King of Hearts
by The Super Twins
Summary: Tyrant king Abaddon only wants one thing: Insane human girl Alice. Determined to have her, he lures Alice into his twisted land by kidnapping her only friend. Stuck, she thinks the only way to return home is to kill the man hunting them down. But as secrets unfurl she realises this isn't her beloved fairytale. It's the King of Hearts' Wonderland and she must play by his rules.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 01

"You look lonely."

"I am lonely."

Abaddon looked up. He was sat on his silver throne, slumped forwards with his elbows resting on his knees. Rapscall was standing a few feet away, his bloody cleaver hanging by his side with his scarred face covered in blood, which meant he had just returned from a killing spree of sorts. Abaddon didn't question it.

"Nobody wants to hang out with you? Poor Abaddon," Rapscall said with a patronising laugh.

"I prefer to be alone, so it doesn't affect me."

Rapscall snorted. "And here I thought I'd bless you with my presence."

Abaddon scowled and leant back in his throne, crossing his arms. "Just get to the point, Rapscallion."

Rapscall huffed, having a strange distaste for his full name. "I over heard the witch and the twins talking about the prophecy."

Abaddon's ears pricked. "What did they say?"

"She said it's nearly time," Rapscall said. "It's nearly time for her to return."

Abaddon stayed still as he stared forward and muttered to himself. "The child in blue will overthrow the child in red."

"Which means the end for you," Rapscall said and he too crossed his arms. "So what are you going to do? The witch wants her dead."

Abaddon rolled his head back. "I'll make her my Queen."

Rapscall raised an eyebrow. "I'm not following."

"Well, if we're married she can't over throw me, correct?"

"It's still possible," Rapscall said but he said no more.

Abaddon just stood up and fixed the golden hems of his regal red trench coat. "I'll go get her myself."

"Do you think that's a good idea?"

Abaddon just smiled. "Of course, it's about time Alice returned to Wonderland."

#

Alice had always been a strange child. Other children her age had always found her strange and creepy so they'd be playing games like 'hide and seek' or 'tag' and she would be sitting by herself, playing with her lowly deck of cards. Not that she knew how to play many card games, she wasn't that smart, but she did just love looking at the picture cards like the king of hearts. He was always her favourite.

She had happened to be quite mature for her age, another thing that supposedly split her apart from the others. She would read dark fantasy epics (some maybe a tad too explicit for her age, but she was young so she didn't understand) whilst other children still read picture books about princesses, dragons and knights in shining armor. Although no matter how much she had enjoyed these adult books they could never match her favourite book, _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_. Who cared if it was a child's book? It was an amazing classic that would always live up to it's time.

Ten years later, now a sixteen-year-old girl, she was still strange. She hated to interact with people and always kept to herself, her head stuck in one book or another. But that wasn't her fault. It was the doctors' faults that made her anti-social.

When Alice was six she was diagnosed with a possibility of schizophrenia, since everyone thought she was having hallucinations. Her family moved away from their beloved hometown to the city where doctors could help her, since there was only a tiny clinic where they lived, and apparently it was the town itself that was causing her hallucinations anyway. She couldn't remember anything about them, she had quite literally been brain washed into forgetting them, which had sorted her out pretty well, to be honest. No more hallucinations. That didn't mean it helped with her social skills; she'd become more withdrawn from society than she had been before.

That was one of the reasons why for the summer holidays before she started sixth form she had temporarily moved in with her older sister, Janet. It also doubled as an escape from her parents. Alice knew her parents were doing all they could to help her, but that didn't stop their relationship becoming broken over the years. It was mainly Alice's fault for being such a difficult child, and she had tried to fix their relationship just as much as her parents had tried, but it only caused them to grow even more distant. But hey, every kid was bound to have temper tantrums at some point.

Her parents had thought it was a risky move for Alice to move in with Janet, considering she was living in a flat in their original hometown. She'd moved back there several years before because she had missed the town, even though it was only half an hour away on the train. Janet had somehow convinced their parents to let Alice stay, and course their parents listened to Janet. It was no secret Janet was their favourite daughter, despite how much they denied it. Janet was, after all, their biological daughter. Alice was only adopted.

Janet knocked on Alice's bedroom door. After no reply she opened it and stared at her younger sister who was doing nothing except lying on her unmade bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Alice, it's midday and you're still in your pyjamas," she said disapprovingly.

Alice glanced down at her pyjamas; a plain blue camisole for her top and white bottoms covered in hearts of all colours and sizes. "But I like my pyjamas."

"Are you going to do anything today or are you going to sit around and do nothing like usual?" Janet asked her younger sister, tapping the doorframe with her fingernails as she did so.

"I am doing something, I'm reading." Alice stuck her hand out and grabbed the nearest book sitting on her bedside table and opened it at a random page to start reading. Even though it was upside down she continued to pretend to read anyway. She was, after all, talented at reading upside down and Janet knew that.

"Anything besides reading?" Janet asked.

Alice dropped her book on her chest and turned her head so she could see her older sister. They looked nothing alike. Alice's hair was pale blonde and was always tied up in a high ponytail on the back of her head, the way she preferred it. She hated having her hair down, it always got in the way and always formed the most annoying tangles since it fell all the way down to her waist. One of the few things her parents had let her do was grow out her hair. Janet's hair was short and brown with brown eyes to match. Alice had dull green eyes. Janet always insisted Alice's eyes were moss green but Alice would always insist they were dull green. A dull colour for a dull person.

"Alice?"

Janet's voice snapped Alice out of whatever reverie she had been in. Smiling brightly, she said, "I'll go out today if it makes you happy."

Janet smiled back. "That's my Alice!"

Alice stared back up at the ceiling. "Maybe I'll go buy some paint so I can paint this room."

Janet's face fell. "You're kidding me? I thought your favourite colour was blue! That's why I dedicated a week to painting it before you came down!"

Alice laughed slightly then paused to think. "I don't know. I don't think I ever had a favourite colour. If I did it would probably be red."

The colour of blood…

"Alice? You've gone quiet again."

"What?" Alice blinked a couple of times. "Have I? Sorry, I'm a bit out of it."

Janet sighed. "Don't paint your room red, okay? I don't like red walls. They look weird."

Alice laughed. "I could paint it white if you want, I like white too."

Janet laughed too. "Just keep it blue, okay?"

Alice nodded. "That fine by me, blue is my forth favourite colour after all."

Janet raised an eyebrow. "So after red and white what would be your third favourite?"

"Orange."

Janet snorted. "I know you and I both despise that putrid colour."

Alice laughed then sat up, swinging her legs over the side of her bed. "I'll got to the park today."

"I'll get some food for you to take with you then," Janet said and she disappeared.

Alice stood up, stumbling slightly as the blood drained from her head for standing too quickly. She then quickly got dressed into the first outfit she grabbed from her relatively small wardrobe, a black miniskirt and plain t-shirt, that would do.

After she was dressed she joined Janet in the kitchen.

"Want some tea in a flask?" Janet asked as Alice tied up her hair into a high ponytail. "I know you like tea."

"Is it blood flavoured?" Alice asked curtly. Janet looked at her then Alice laughed. "I was kidding. But no, forget tea, I'll just bring some coke or something."

Janet then quickly fixed up some lunch for Alice, including the last bottle of coke that was in the fridge (which was actually the cheap stuff and not the proper brand but Alice decided not to voice her disgust) and some jam sandwiches. Alice grabbed a book then said goodbye before running out of the flat, yelling something about being back for five. That would give her several hours to read without Janet pestering her.

Alice pulled her blue jacket tightly around her as she made her way to the park. She hadn't been back in the town for long, but since it was fairly small she had easily memorised her way around. The park wasn't too far away from Janet's flat so she reached there in no time, immediately making a beeline for the swings people weren't ever really hanging around. Nobody was in the park anyway, which gave Alice a small sense of relief.

She rooted through her bag, pulling out one of her books and the bottle of not-coke. Dropping her bag on the ground she sat on one of the swings opening her book to any random page. After a while of flicking through she eventually found where she was and continued to read, glad no one was around to distract her, though she did look up once in a while to see if anyone had entered the park with out her knowing.

One time when she looked up there was someone in the park, thankfully only the one person. It was a girl about Alice's age. She had red hair, well, not really, since it was actually orange. Literally orange. Not that Alice was being insulting or anything (she wasn't really since she hadn't actually said anything) but the girl's hair really was bright orange. Even though orange was Alice's least favourite colour, even she could tell the girl's hair was a pleasant orange, the kind of orange you'd kill for. Alice couldn't ever understand why 'ginger' or 'orange' we're supposedly offensive, especially when it was accurate. The girl's hair was childishly tied into two ponytails either side of her head and was fairly long, half way down her upper arms, but not as long as Alice's. Alice's hair was going to be even longer in comparison considering she was nearly a head taller.

The girl looked up, noticing Alice was sitting alone on the swings. She then started to slowly walk over, so Alice suppressed a groan and just flicked her attention back to her book.

"Hey."

Alice flicked her eyes back up, realising the girl was now standing directly in front of her, a dangerous place to stand considering Alice was on a swing, but luckily for the girl Alice's swing was stationary.

"Hey..." Alice said slowly. "Any particular reason you're staring at me?"

"I'm deciding whether you're good enough to be my next murder victim." She spoke said with such a dead straight face it was rather unnerving.

Alice frowned in confusion just as the ginger girl broke into a big cheesy grin. "Only kidding. I don't kill people. That's bad. It's just I don't recognise you, you new here?"

"What makes you think that?" Alice asked raising a single eyebrow.

The girl laughed. "The school in this town is tiny so of course I'd be able to recognise you if you went there."

Alice may have laughed too if she wasn't so anti-social. "What if I was in a younger year?"

"Nah-uh, I recognise all them too."

Alice pulled a face. "Well, I could be homeschooled. Thought of that?"

The girl scratched her cheek then shook her head. "I'd still have seen you around town... Well, are you homeschooled?"

Alice shrugged. "Sometimes I wish I was, I wouldn't have to talk to people otherwise. But I'm not, I go to a normal school."

The girl tipped her head to one side. "And you went to...?"

"The school in the city, I'm down here for the summer holidays." Alice tipped her head too, so it looked like she was a mirror image of the orange-haired girl. "I've only been down here for two weeks."

"And it's only the beginning of July! Thank heaven's for our extra long summer holiday." The girl clapped her hands excitedly. "Wait, why haven't I seen you before if you've been here for two weeks already?"

"I, uh, haven't been out my sister's flat for those two weeks," Alice said quietly. "I'm not exactly an outside person."

"Fair enough," the girl said idly. "Anyway, this means you have roughly two months to hang out with me!"

Alice raised both eyebrows and took a sip of her not-coke. "Hang out with you?"

"Yeah, someone's gotta show you around, right?" The girl sat on the swing next to her, dropping her own bag to the floor, and started swinging gently back and forth. "I know you said you didn't wanna talk to people, but you don't wanna be lonely the entire time, right? Besides, someone needs to show you where the local Tesco and Costa are."

"I have Janet, my sister," Alice replied, reluctantly closing her book and looking away.

"Yeah, but what about friends?" The girl peered at Alice's book. "Whatcha reading?"

Alice gave a nervous sigh and after a couple of seconds held the book up.

"_Dracula_? I can't even get pass the first chapter." The girl pulled a face. "Can't understand it."

"Really? I've read it, hmm, ten times."

"Ten? That's loads! I've only ever read my favourite book, like, three times!" Alice asked what the books happened to be and so with a sheepish smile the girl told her _The Night Circus_. Alice grinned and agreed it was a pretty good book, which the girl seemed relieved about.

"My favourite is _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_. I've probably read it five hundred times, literally." Alice laughed at the girl's astonished expression.

"What's your name?" The girl asked suddenly.

"Alice Lockheart, but you can just call me Alice," Alice said with a small laugh, staring into the girl's misty blue eyes. She supposed she needed to try and make at least one friend.

"Well, hi, Alice-Lockheart-but-you-can-just-call-me-Alice, I'm Miriam Toren, nice to meet you." The girl, or Miriam as she was called, stuck out her hand, her voice kind and cheerful. "Pretty cool you have the same name as the main character from your favourite story."

Alice hesitantly grabbed Miriam's hand then shook it. "Yeah, nice to meet you too."

Miriam started to swing further back and forth, asking Alice why she'd moved down for the summer.

Alice sighed. "I was...sick. So I moved away. I want to spend some time with my sister though, so I'm here for the time being."

"Really? What were you sick of?" Miriam asked, giving her best attempt at masking her curiosity.

Did Alice really want to tell a stranger about her 'sickness'? But then after the holidays she wouldn't see Miriam again, unless...

"What year are you in? Or were you in?" Alice suddenly asked.

Miriam stopped swinging for a second, a bemused look on her face at the utterly random question, but she answered anyway. "Eleven, I start sixth form next year."

"The college in the city, right? This town seems too small for one."

"Yeah. Are you going there too?"

Alice nodded, taking another sip of her not-coke before holding out the bottle. "I live in the city, so it would make sense."

Miriam grinned and took a sip. "Then we won't just be spending the holidays together! Well be going to the same school afterwards."

Well, that was settled. Now Alice just had to decide whether to tell Miriam or not. She took a breath. Where was the harm in telling a stranger (not that they were strangers because they were on first name basis) your depressing backstory?

"Are you always this chirpy with strangers?" Alice found herself asking.

"No, just you," Miriam said truthfully. "You were sitting by yourself, reading a book on a swing, that just screamed 'crazy girl' so I figured you were an outcast like me."

"'Outcast like me?"

"Oh yeah, I was the bullied kid in school, I remember one day I was being bullied by a bunch of guys for being a wimp, so I climbed to the top of the tallest tree I could find to prove that I wasn't. That tree right there," Miriam had started to say, pointing at a tree at the edge of the park. "Unfortunately I kinda got stuck there for the next three hours. Blimey, that was the most boring three hours of my life. The next day my teacher wouldn't believe me that I hadn't done my homework because I was stuck in a tree." Miriam rambled on, kicking her legs back and forth.

"Really?" Alice laughed. "Next time maybe you shouldn't climb a tree. Next time try something a little less drastic."

"Oh next time I'll climb this tree again!" Miriam declared jumping to her feet. "I am an expert tree climber now! I kept practicing climbing trees so I wouldn't get stuck!"

Alice laughed again. "Any other embarrassing stories you might want to tell me?"

"Well," Miriam said, her cheeks going slightly red. "There was this one time. My siblings and I were playing happy families. I know, stupid, but we just were. When you were the baby you had to sit in this box. It came around to my turn for being the baby so I got in the box. Of course I was too big for it and I got stuck and couldn't get out! My mum had to call the fire brigade to cut me out!"

Alice burst into laughter. "She had to get the fire brigade?"

"Yeah," Miriam smiled and she sat back down next to Alice again. "But, enough about me. What about you? Why did you move here? You didn't exactly answer my question."

Alice sighed and decided she might as well say.

Even though she hadn't even known Miriam for at least one whole day she told her everything. Alice told her about how she'd been diagnosed with possible schizophrenia, how she'd been hypnotised to forget any possible hallucinations, how she'd become withdrawn from society.

"They made me move because they thought I was going insane." Alice finished with a sigh, and she hung her head limply. "I moved back here because this is the only place that I've ever felt happy."

"You really didn't need to tell me any of that," Miriam said softly.

"No it's fine," Alice replied with a brief smile. "I guess I'm just glad there's someone I can talk too besides my sister."

"Well, now I'll make sure I'm always here for you." Miriam nudged Alice on the shoulder. "Can I just ask you one question though?" Alice nodded. "What exactly did you hallucinate?"

Alice stifled a moan. "I have no idea, I can't remember. You know, I _was_ hypnotised to forget. I think there was something about a boy who could do magic. I'm not so sure."

"A boy who could do magic? Bloody brilliant hallucination if you ask me." Miriam started to swing back and forth again. "When I was younger, my grandma would tell me stories about how she would travel to many different magical worlds and defeat evil monsters."

"Bloody brilliant grandma if you ask me," Alice replied and both girls fell into fits of giggles.

Miriam hopped off her swing and scooped up her bag. "Come on Miss Alice-Lockheart-but-you-can-just-call-me-Alice, didn't I say someone needs to take you to the local Tesco? You want some proper coke, right?"

Alice grinned and put _Dracula_ and the bottle of not-coke in her bag. "Sure, and then afterwards we can have jam sandwiches."

Miriam grinned. "It's a deal."

Alice slung her bag onto her back and got up, ready to follow Miriam when suddenly something blue flew in front of her face. She held out a finger and a pale blue butterfly landed gently on it. Frowning, she felt as if he butterfly was familiar somehow.

"Alice, are you coming?" Miriam called.

At the sound of her words the butterfly beat its wigs and flew away, disappearing like smoke into the air. Alice blinked a couple of times, the pace of her heart quickening slightly. Was she hallucinating again?

"Alice!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Alice called back and she turned and hurried after Miriam.

What they didn't realise was Abaddon, hidden out of soft amongst the shadows as he watched them intently. He wasn't exactly hiding he just remained unseen by all. If he didn't want to be seen, he simply wasn't seen, and that was the beauty of magic.

**~Author Notes~**

**So, we're finally posting this online! It's been three years since we've started this story, and what a time it's been! Since the entire thing has been written up you'll be safe to know that we will be posting regularly. It would be brilliant if you could comment and criticise (kindly please). Guaranteed we can't change anything too dramatically but we can certainly put little tweaks here and there. We want to be professionally published authors so all the criticism we get from here can be used to make the story better! This is only the introductory chapter, we promise it gets better :)**

**Thank you for reading, we love you all!**

**~Kate and Anne**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 02:

With a flick of his wrist Abaddon made another pale blue butterfly appear in his palm. So Alice had been hypnotised to forget him. A sour feeling of hatred crept over. The pathetic humans, ever in denial about the existence of magic, always having to wipe out any trace of it.

Gritting his teeth he clenched his fist, crushing the poor butterfly. He knew he'd be able to remove Alice's hypnotism if he wanted to, just a click of his fingers and she'd be back to normal.

Abaddon had found himself smirking when she had said her favourite book was still _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_. He remembered how they had spent so many nights reading it over and over again. Personally, he had gotten quite bored after a while; but he could still practically quote the whole book off by heart, even now. He wondered if she could quote it. She was smart, intelligent even when she was incredibly young, so he didn't put that past her abilities.

Abaddon could also remember that her favourite flowers were roses; blood red roses. He had never forgotten that. He would always create white roses for her, only for her to complain they weren't red. But then he'd dare her to paint them red, just like in her favourite story. She could have done it if she had tried, but she never did, much preferring to see him do it for her. It was a routine, one in which he didn't mind doing. A rose per day; she could have had a garden of roses if she had kept them.

Maybe if she had then she'd have had the proof that she wasn't hallucinating. Maybe if he hadn't left then she wouldn't have been diagnosed with possible schizophrenia (Abaddon wasn't entirely sure what schizophrenia actually was). But it wasn't his fault he had to leave. It wasn't like he could have ignored Evelix, considering he had only been eight at the time, and besides, they had been destined to part ways eventually, yet destined to meet again. He wondered what it would have been like if he had stayed.

It was a brilliant coincidence that she returned to her very own hometown when Abaddon needed her. Maybe Wonderland was subconsciously summoning her. He slowly smiled to himself; he was going to make her follow him into his own Wonderland where he ruled. He'd toy with her, mess around with her, lead her astray and then eventually, if she was worthy enough and stood up to all the trials he set, she'd be his.

It suddenly occurred to him that Evelix was probably (actually, there was no probably about it) thinking about where he had wandered away to this time. He had developed a tendency to just disappear, not reappearing until the end of the day. Evelix didn't like him wandering away by himself, not because of a motherly instinct but purely because she couldn't control him. If he wasn't in her sight she was effectively powerless. Half the time he'd wander away because he wanted to get away from her whilst the other half of the time he was searching for something to entertain him.

Abaddon supposed he should be returning. But he didn't want to go back, and who could blame him? Evelix wasn't a particularly nice person. Then again, neither was he.

Sighing dramatically, Abaddon turned and managed to pull himself away from the sight of Alice, away from the concrete forest that she and all the other humans called their home. He often wondered how they could live in a place as terrible as this. A place they had killed and destroyed, banishing even the most wonderful of magic from their petty minds. But who was he to say this? He was the one who had destroyed his world, wasn't he? Maybe destroy was a bit of an exaggeration, but there was a reason why all the citizens despised him.

Oh well, things could always be fixed. Maybe he could get someone to do it for him. Maybe Alice could.

Abaddon gritted his teeth and shook his head. Why couldn't he stop thinking about her?

Sighing again, he slipped away into the forest, the real forest, the one with the tallest of trees and greenest of plants. It was actually just the woods, but that didn't seem to matter. The dirty ground was covered in decaying leaves and the occasional dead animal. He deserved to be one of them, he really did, considering everything he'd done.

To hell with dying. He wasn't planning on kicking the bucket just yet. He was still 'human' after all, even if he didn't come from Earth, and a human's natural instinct was one of survival. No one wanted to die. Anyone who did would certainly be mad enough to join Wonderland's eccentric group of characters.

Abaddon crept towards a flowing stream. Staring down from the top of the bank at the flowing water, which was a couple of feet below him, he positioned himself on the very edge, carefully enough so that he wouldn't slip and fall. He flexed his fingers, a rather pointless exercise to do, before simply jumping from the edge of the bank. An ordinary person would have fallen straight in; maybe they would have slipped on the rocks beneath the water's surface, sprained or possibly even have broken their ankle, before having the misfortune of being rushed away to hospital. That was if they hadn't drowned first when they fell in. Yet Abaddon was no ordinary person. When he put his foot down, it didn't sink into the water, it gently rested on top.

Slowly, he started to walk across the water, as if it was natural for a person to do so. It was natural for him. Walking on water felt like walking on squishy ground. His boots did get a bit wet, though.

When he was standing in the middle of the two banks either side of the stream he tapped his toe on the water as if he was checking whether it was sturdy or not. Feeling satisfied he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before suddenly sinking into the water.

Opening his eyes he stared forward into the dark water he was surrounded by before slowly looking up, knowing he was much deeper than he should have been. Swimming upwards he broke through the surface of the water which revealed he wasn't in the stream anymore but rather the sea.

Abaddon swam forwards until the water was shallow enough for him to rest his feet on the sand below, walking the rest of the way to the shore that stretched in front of him for miles in either direction. As soon as he set foot onto the dry sand he shook his head and was immediately dry again, pleased magic was always useful for something. His body felt a lot lighter now he was out of the magic-less world of Earth.

In front of him, at the back of the beach was a forest. Mangled trees twisted here and there to make the place look overly creepy.

He walked forward, the footprints he left in the sand slowly disappearing. Once he had entered the safety of the trees' branches he decided that he should hurry back to find Evelix. Obviously, he wouldn't tell her where he had really been; he'd just tell her that he was stalking some poor innocent people. He'd tell her they defied him so he killed them. She'd believe that, because she knew he always did kill.

#

Alice wandered around the shop, looking at the cookery pots. There wasn't a reason she was looking at pots and pans, she just was. As she turned to the next aisle she saw a flash of red pass by. It felt as almost as if she was being stalked.

She peeked through the gaps in the shelves. No one was there. Taking another look around she saw a young man dressed in a red trench coat, staring at her. Alice stared back, not entirely sure if he was staring at her or some other person but when their eyes met and stayed locked in each other's gazes, she knew it was her he was staring at. Alice felt as if she'd seen him somewhere before.

"Oh, this is pretty!" Miriam unexpectedly exclaimed.

Alice gasped, Miriam's exclamation giving her a jolt of surprise. She looked at the young man for one more second before turning to look at Miriam. Miriam held up a black headband with a red bow on it. "I think it suits you," she said to Alice. "Maybe I could buy it for you as an early Christmas present. I wonder how expensive it is?".

"Miriam," Alice said giving her one of those you-are-so-pathetic looks, her memory of the man in red temporally forgotten. "This is a _pound_ shop where everything is a _pound_, you moron."

Miriam snorted. "I'm an idiot."

Alice couldn't really disagree with her there, since she was an idiot half the time.

It was strange, they had only known each other for a couple of weeks yet Alice felt as if she wouldn't ever be able to live without her ginger companion. Miriam was unintentionally a hilarious person, and always managed to brighten up Alice's day, whether it was with a witty remark or her pure stupidity. She and Miriam were pretty much best friends, already haven told one another everything there was to tell about themselves. Janet was glad that Alice had quickly found a friend because it meant Alice wasn't going to be so incredibly lonely.

Nearly everyday they'd go to the park for a while, always managing to grab the swings before anyone else. They'd bring some books, although Alice was the only one that really read, Miriam would generally sit back and talk the entire time, always babbling about the latest thing she found on the internet. They would have some snacks, including bottles of proper coke, not the not-coke which Alice had decided to scold Janet for buying (and once Janet had dared to buy Pepsi which neither Alice nor Miriam were pleased about). Afterwards the two of them would go back to either Miriam's or Alice's for dinner before the guest that time would return to their normal home. Generally they'd come to Alice's because Miriam's siblings were rather annoying, even if Miriam could also be rather annoying as she never acted her age. Janet didn't mind. She'd grown fond of Miriam and was happy to cook and serve dinner for a friend of her younger sister.

"Besides," Alice continued as she stared at the pots and pans. "It's August, a bit early for an early Christmas present."

"Early birthday present then," Miriam said instead.

"Yeah, but your birthday is closer than mine. But anyway, it is actually quite pretty," Alice commented, busy off in her own world which consisted of no in on from the cheep pots and pans to looking at other kitchen utensils instead. "You know what? I feel like cooking a nice dinner tonight. Well, I feel like getting Janet to cook a nice dinner tonight. How about it? Wanna come round or something?"

Alice looked at the pans thinking about what to get Janet to make. Despite the buzz of talk in the shop it seemed too quiet. Miriam hadn't said anything and that was quite unusual. Turning around, Alice wanted to see why she hadn't replied.

"Are you at least going to ask what I was planning to make Janet cook? Don't you want to come round?" Alice asked impatiently.

But Miriam wasn't there.

"Miriam?" She asked.

She looked around to see if she could spot Miriam but she couldn't. She couldn't see the man in red either. A feeling of dread crept over her. What if the mysterious man in red had kidnapped her friend? She couldn't leave Miriam, not all by herself with some creep who stared at random girls in a shop! "Miriam?" She called out again.

"Yeah?" Miriam replied. Alice sighed in relief. So she hadn't been kidnapped then. Alice had just been paranoid. It still did worry her that the man in red had disappeared.

"Wh-where did you go? I was scared that you had been kidnapped or something!" Alice exclaimed.

"Geez, Alice, you sure do sound mad," Miriam replied. Alice stared at her friend, unblinking. "Anyway…" Miriam said to fill the silence, "I went to go buy this." She held up the small bag in her hand. Alice looked down at it. Opening the bag, Miriam took out the headband that she had pointed out. "Here take it. It is for you after all".

Alice took the headband. She muttered her thanks and put it on. It was actually really nice for something that looked so simple.

After a little longer of looking around, Alice headed out of the store with Miriam, having bought nothing herself, even though she still needed to buy Miriam a birthday present, and her birthday was fast approaching. As Miriam walked ahead babbling on about something random as usual, Alice saw the young man in red again. Alice stared at him for a second but he didn't seem to notice she was there, until suddenly he looked up directly at her. She could feel beads of sweat form on her forehead as she stared at him for a second longer, only for a blue butterfly to fly in front of her. breaking her gaze. Alice looked at the butterfly then glanced back at the young man, but he was gone. Looking back at the butterfly as it flew away she sighed and ran after Miriam, determined not to let any more hallucinations ruin her life.

#

Miriam waved goodbye to Alice before they parted ways. She promised to be at Alice's at five, she just had to tell her parents she was going. She could have done it over the phone if it hadn't been for the fact neither girl had their mobiles on them. Walking along as happy as one could be when nothing exciting had happened, she cut across the road and to the park, as it was a shorter way home. There was no one in the field, as far as she could see, possibly because it was cold, which was strange considering it was summer. Then again it _was_ British summer, anything could happen.

"Excuse me, Miriam is it?" she heard someone ask and she turned around to see who had spoken. In front of her was a guy with longish, cinnamon coloured scruffy hair that fell to his broad shoulders, curling slightly at the ends. He wore a double-breasted, red, trench coat with golden lining and a wide collar.

"Um, yeah?" she asked, having no idea who this guy was.

"Miriam Toren, am I right?" he asked.

"Yeah…I'm Miriam Toren. Who are you?" Miriam asked, really unsure of whom this man was. She instinctively took a couple of steps back.

"I'm a friend of Alice," the guy said, with a lazy smile.

Miriam raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "I happen to be Alice's only friend so I know you're lying. I reckon you better leave before something happens."

"Like what? You plan to kill me?" the guy said sarcastically before laughing slyly. "I can see that happening."

"Maybe not kill you, but I'm sure I could severely hurt you," Miriam said, trying to sound as stoic and tough as possible. "I know how to fight."

She knew how to fight only a little bit, but a little bit was better than naught.

The guy just laughed at Miriam. "Oh I can assure you that wouldn't help much. As you can see, I am clearly a lot stronger than you." He held his arms out as if trying to prove a point.

"Well, I bite. I'm very good at biting."

The guy laughed yet again at Miriam's retort. "Now, let's just get back to the thing at hand. I am a friend of Alice. It's nice to meet you."

"If you're a friend of Alice, she's never mentioned you before." Miriam scowled. She didn't like this guy at all.

"Oh, I can assure you that Alice has mentioned me," the guy said casually as he waved a hand through the air. Out of nothing, a rose formed between his fingers. He twirled it around, keeping his eyes locked on Miriam.

Miriam's jaw had fallen practically to the floor. "H-how did you-"

The guy quickly cut her off. "Alice mentioned me, remember? I'm the little boy she's forgotten."

Before Miriam could say anything else, the guy waved his hand and all she could see was blackness as she slumped to the ground.

"She told you she hallucinated something about magic," Abaddon said, smirking down at Miriam's limp body.

He bent down and picked her up. Slinging her inattentively over his shoulder, he strolled away, whistling a sad tune.

**~Authors' Notes~**

**So we get a little more of Abaddon this time. What do you think? Review, comment, critique, tell us your opinions, and we'll see you next chapter!**

**~Kate and Anne**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 03:

Sitting alone on a swing in the deserted park, Alice slowly swung her feet back and forth, causing the swing to move slightly too. It was strange being the only one sat at the swings, a feeling she wished more than anything wasn't true.

Miriam had been missing for over a week. It was just like the incident with the boy from her childhood all over again. Alice became close friends with someone just before they were cruelly taken away from her. That was if the boy that could perform magic had been real, of course.

It had been a nightmare. Alice had phoned up Miriam's home asking her mother whether Miriam had left yet. Miriam's mother said her daughter had never even returned home. Since Miriam hadn't had her phone on her Alice left to see whether she could track her friend down, but neither she, Janet nor Miriam's own mother could find her. Alice had gone to check the park to search, only to find Miriam's bag and not the girl herself.

That couldn't have been a good sign.

The police weren't helpful. With no CCTV or any form of clues they couldn't find any link to wherever she could have gone. They'd interviewed Alice and Miriam's family, but Miriam had no enemies, no reason to run away or for anyone to come after her. Alice did however explain about the man in red that had been following them for that day. After being sat with a sketch artists and doing her best to give an accurate description of the young man, the police tried to track him down, checking to see if anyone recognised him, but it came to no avail. In a few weeks it would be a lost cause.

Miriam's direct family worried she was dead, yet Alice refused to believe so. She couldn't believe that her only friend had died, deep down inside she knew Miriam was all right, just sitting somewhere waiting for Alice to find her. She hadn't run away, Alice trusted Miriam not to abandon her.

Alice felt raindrops fall upon her knee. Looking up into the darkening sky, another drop fell onto her face. Suddenly the sky seemed to tear open as rain started to fall. Alice didn't care if she got wet, since the rain did match her mood after all. Janet would have cared, though, so reluctantly Alice picked her bag up out of the mud and headed to the park's entrance.

She shuffled along in the rain, realising she did in fact regret not bringing her umbrella, when a woman appeared at the end of the road. The woman was looking directly at her. Alice blinked to make sure it wasn't just the rain blurring her vision. No, she was definitely looking at Alice. Had she come to take Alice too?

Alice told herself to calm down. It may have just been a coincidence.

She strained her eyes so she could pick up as much detail of the woman as possible. She couldn't make out the woman's exact age due to the rain obscuring her sight, but she looked young. She was dressed entirely in white, with a short white dress with a small hat of some sort but any detail on it Alice didn't notice. Above her head, the woman was holding an umbrella protecting her from the downpour, obviously white too. Alice stood still. No one else was there. The two were alone. Perfect for a kidnapping.

Alice watched carefully as the woman put a hand in the pocket of her dress. She took an object out of it and held it up for Alice to see, something small and gold on a long chain. A pocket watch? The woman tapped it as if to say 'hurry up' or 'you're running out of time'.

The woman put the pocket watch back into her pocket before turning and walking around the corner. Alice wanted to follow but she couldn't, her feet glued to the spot. Eventually she managed to move, but there was no point in following the woman. She was long gone.

Alice just returned home, dripping wet, instead. Janet looked at her oddly. "Had a nice time in the rain?"

Alice paused before saying, "Yes."

"Go get changed," Janet ordered. "Dinner will be ready soon."

Alice nodded and wandered to her room where she started to take of her soaking wet clothes. Reaching up she took off her headband first, the one Miriam had given her. Alice stared at it in her hands and sighed. She was going to find Miriam. She was sure of it.

#

Alice didn't want to get up the next day but Janet sweet talked her into getting up. She was trying her best to keep Alice positive, determinedly declaring they'd find Miriam and she'd be all right. Step one in keeping Alice positive was to not let her curl up in bed all day, suffering from depression.

Alice brushed her hair with sluggish movements before grabbing her headband with the red bow and putting it on. Putting it on was a depressing reminder that Miriam was gone, especially since Miriam had bought it for her the day she'd gone missing. But despite that Alice had worn it everyday since then. It reminded Alice that Miriam still had to be out there, alive somewhere. All Alice had to do was find her.

Janet knew Alice well, knowing in advance of pulling her younger sister out of bed that Alice would go to spend the entire day in the park. It was as if Alice liked to sit there, diligently waiting for her friend's return. Therefore Janet had already packed a lunch, including not one but two bottles of proper coke. She made sure there was enough for Miriam too, and Alice couldn't help but wonder if it was because her sister truly thought she was going insane.

"Have a nice day," Janet said smiling in her best attempt to make Alice happier.

"I'll try," was all Alice said.

To be honest Alice was still contemplating staying in bed for the whole day but Janet had already pushed her out of the door. It didn't particularly matter, she'd be alone anyway, with only one of her various copies of _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ to keep her company. She knew Miriam wouldn't want her moping around either, so she silently thanked Janet for forcing her to get out of bed.

As Alice wandered down the town streets, her movements robotic and slow because, she reminisced about Miriam, daydreaming a multitude of scenarios in which she returned and life could continue as normal. Alice ambled down the path, completely lost in thought, which was she ended up colliding with someone.

"Sorry," Alice blurted as she stumbled forward, catching her balance in the nick of time.

She glanced behind her to see if the person she had collided into was all right, hoping they accepted her apology. Dazed, Alice looked up at the woman who was all ready heading down the path, seemingly fine. Alice sighed. Some people those days could be considerably rude.

She watched as the woman headed down the path. The woman was carrying a white umbrella despite the fact that day was clear skies and hot sun. Alice almost turned to go then stopped.

Wait, white umbrella?

Alice narrowed her eyes at the woman. Even though she didn't get a clear view of her last night, Alice was unquestionably sure that that was the woman in white she had seen. It was the one with the golden pocket watch. Or what she presumed was one, anyway.

Alice ran. She ignored the brash comments as she pushed past people and tripped over them. She wanted to follow that woman no matter what happened. Even if a truck just so happened to slam into her as she hopped across the road, which gladly didn't happen, she would get up instantly to keep tracking the woman.

Maybe then she'd find out where Miriam was.

Maybe it would be a false lead. Maybe she was making an irrational decision, but at that moment Alice didn't care, not one bit.

Soon Alice reached and empty part of the street, slowing down into a walk as she realised she had lost the woman in white. With a moan Alice turned to trudge to the park, ready to just read _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ yet again. Suddenly though, she saw a flash of white and the woman was standing in the distance.

"Hey!" Alice called out to get the woman in white's attention, although she had high doubts it would work.

The woman turned around and locked her eyes onto Alice's. She stared for a few seconds before disappearing down an alleyway, not one from the cities where it was dark the majority of the time, and was stereotypically in movies, but one where the walls came just above Alice's head, where the path was wide and it was brightly lit due to the sun's rays directly shining on it.

With a grunt of annoyance Alice quickly followed the woman. The woman led her around a variety of back alleys, not at all dissimilar to the first, until eventually she came to a dead end. A fence stood in her way, in which beyond the fence were the woods that would lead to the park if you took the right path.

In one quick movement the simply hopped over the fence and into the woods, as if jumping several metres into the air and landing perfectly was no problem at all. Alice stood stunned for a moment, but shook her head and sped over to the fence, scrambling ungraciously over. She wasn't as swift as the woman in white was and ended up in a heap on the ground below. She struggled to her feet, her back aching from the awkward landing, and followed the glimpse of white through the trees.

The woman led her to a stream. Water rushed through it, small waves catching at the sides of the banks, carrying a various amount of different sized stones and rocks. It was quite large for a stream yet too small to be classified as a river. Alice wondered why she had been lead to a stream of all places, and why she was being lead anywhere at all.

Alice watched as the woman in white walked to the bank of the stream and leapt across gracefully. It was a long distance to jump but the woman did it in such a way it seemed to take now effort. Once the woman was on the other side she turned to face Alice. Alice wasn't sure as to why the woman had to stand on the other side of the stream. Maybe it was because Alice didn't have strange, physics defying, jumping skills and as a result wouldn't be able to reach the woman. Standing on the other side of the stream seemed to be a safety net of sorts.

Since it wasn't raining anymore Alice could get a good look at the woman. She was wearing a simple, white knee length dress, decorated with little bits of lace. Her hair was parted into two ponytails that almost looked like rabbit ears. Her feet were bare, but remarkably they weren't dirty, despite the fact the woman had been running through a forest full of wet mud.

The woman lowered her lacy umbrella so Alice could see her face more clearly. The only parts of her that weren't white were the pink glow of her eyes and the gold chain that hung from her dress pocket. The woman pulled the chain out of her pocket and tapped the object that hung at the end, which was in fact a pocket watch as Alice had assumed.

"You are late, Miss Alice" she said. Her voice was hushed yet loud enough for Alice to hear.

"How do you know my name?" Alice replied. She took a cautious step towards the stream.

"We all know your name."

Alice stopped. As if that wasn't freaky. Who did 'all' refer to?

She stared in silence at the woman who slowly held out a hand.

"My name is Chalice." Alice found it slightly hilarious that their names rhymed. "Or you might prefer to call me, let's say, the White Rabbit."

That explained the white ear like ponytails.

"As in the White Rabbit from _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_?" Alice asked with uncertainty. What was this woman going on about?

"Well, Alice, not quite like that White Rabbit. I'm a bit different."

The next thing she would be saying was that the Cheshire cat wasn't a cat but a human.

"But Wonderland doesn't exist," Alice replied, as much as she hated to admit her favourite book wasn't actually true. "It's a kid's story."

"That is where you are wrong, Miss Alice. Wonderland does exist. Just not the way you thought it did. It is where your friend currently waits for you."

"You mean Miriam?" Alice's heart jumped with joy. Did that mean Miriam was alive?

Chalice nodded. "She's alive and well, but to get her back you must go to Wonderland to find her. An assistant of mine will meet you on the other side to tell you more." Chalice pointed to the stream.

Alice looked into the water of the stream. It was murky and disgusting. Was that the entrance to Wonderland? It couldn't be. The entrance to Wonderland was a rabbit hole. Or a looking glass. This stream didn't look like either.

"Meet me where?" Alice asked slowly.

"In Wonderland, upon your arrival," Chalice explained. "I cannot remain here to inform you myself since I have urged business to attend to, but I wish you all the luck in the world."

Chalice then lifted up her umbrella over her head again.

"Beware of the King of Hearts, Miss Alice," she said.

Then, to Alice's surprise, Chalice hopped into river. She landed with a small splash, the water engulfing her almost like it was embracing her and sending her to an early grave.

"Chalice!" Alice yelped, jumping back slightly in shock.

No answer. Once she had gotten over the initial shock, Alice crept forward and scanned the water for signs of the White Rabbit. There was nothing.

Alice paused. She took her rucksack off her shoulders and placed it in the least muddy bit of ground she could find. Then she started to climb down the bank and into the water.

It was cold, swirling around her knees as she climbed down the bank. Alice clenched her fists and took a deep breath, knowing she had to continue even if she was going to die of hyperthermia (the water wasn't that cold, but it certainly wasn't warm enough to want to stay in). She expected the water to get deeper, but unexpectedly it didn't. She gazed at the swirls that surrounding her, wondering how Chalice had disappeared into the water if it only came up to Alice's knees.

Well, if this really was the entrance to Wonderland, Alice had to do something. Holding her breath and pinching the end of her nose, she ducked under the water's surface. It was even colder underneath and Alice nearly let go of her breath. She automatically screwed up her eyes and pressed her lips more firmly together.

After about thirty seconds of braving the water, Alice needed to breathe. She stood up and out of the water, taking large, rapid breaths as she gulped down air into her lungs. Once her breathing had slipped back to normal she brushed the wet strands of hair that were stuck to her face behind her ears, shivering slightly. She looked around the place she was standing. Was she in Wonderland now?

No. She was in the same stream as she was before. The same trees were standing above her like a canopy. The same water swirled around her knees. She looked back to the bank where she left her bag. It was still there too. Alice examined the water around her knees again. Maybe Chalice was a part of her imagination after all. Maybe the man in red was too. She wouldn't be surprised if Miriam ended up being part of her imagination too. Maybe her parents were right about needing the doctor.

Alice let out a long sigh. No, she wasn't insane. It wasn't made up - it couldn't have been. Miriam was most certainly real, and most certainly missing. Wonderland had to be real because Alice was going to get Miriam back. If she was going to have any use in the world it would be to save her friend.

She wasn't going to be any use though if she just hung around in the water. Maybe she should try jumping off the bank too.

With great difficulty and a lot of slipping Alice managed to scramble back up onto dry land. She was covered in mud, along with being soaking wet. Not exactly a pleasant feeling for sure. Once she was on her feet she stood on the edge of the bank, staring uncertainly at the water below. She would feel like an idiot if it didn't work.

And so she took a gulp of air before leaping in.

She expected for her feet to land on the riverbed but there was no more ground underneath her. She sank straight into the water, left to flail her arms around as she kept sinking lower and lower beyond the ground that had apparently disappeared. She scrambled around for something to grab but there was nothing. Nothing but water.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 04

Alice continued to scramble round in the water, trying desperately to pull herself to the surface, but all she could feel was emptiness all around her. Bubbles of air escaped from her mouth and then suddenly she found herself gasping, which wasn't exactly a good idea when you were still underwater. The salty water started to fill her lungs, choking out the air. Hang on, salty? It was like she was in the ocean.

After Alice had managed to secure her position so she wasn't flailing around anymore, she swam upwards. Her head broke through the waves and with a huge gulp of air she started spitting and coughing. Brushing wet strands of hair out of her eyes she looked around. She really _was_ in the ocean. But that was impossible; she had been in the woods only moments before.

A wave hit the back of Alice's head forcing her underwater again. She thrashed about, trying to stay afloat. Eventually lifting her head above the water again she caught sight of some land. Taking a deep breath as another wave crashed into her, Alice swam towards the the land.

After a few minutes of struggling she finally made it. As she walked out of the water she collapsed to her hands and knees, coughing up the remaining saltwater that was in her lungs. She yet again took a deep breath in desperate need of oxygen. Shaking her head to get the water out of her hair (with little success) she looked around.

She was on a beach. Very traditional. Directly opposite the sea was a forest, not woods this time but a proper forest, reminding Alice of deserted islands in movies. They always had a forest on the doorstep of the beach.

Alice tiredly pushed herself to her feet and hobbled over to the forest to inspect it, wet sand clinging to her clothes. It was dark and gloomy with mangled trees in twisted positions. It didn't look particularly inviting. Something screeched in the distance causing her to jump and fall back into the sand. No way was she going in there. She stood up slowly, muttering under her breath as she brushed the sand that now covered her back, sticking to her wet clothes and feet like glue. Being soaking wet was by far one of the worst feelings in the world.

Alice wrung out her hair and her skirt, watching the water seep into the sand. She then took off her shoes and socks, wringing out them too, the sand burning the bare soles of her feet. Alice hopped around like she was actually the white rabbit for a minute until her feet got used to the heat of the sand. Freezing cold water and boiling hot sand. That was traditional too.

Looking both left and right, Alice frowned to herself. To her left was an odd shaped log. It looked almost like a man being attacked by a creature of some sort. It was a bit too creepy, twisted and macabre for Alice's liking. Even so, she sat down on the weird log, dripping water all over it. She was tired and needed to sit down.

She considered taking off her clothes for a second so she could let them dry but decided against it. There could have been anyone out there and Alice wasn't about to let them see her naked. It would have been nice though, so she wouldn't have to walk around feeling like a waterlogged bog. Instead she settled taking off her jacket. She wrung it out like she had with the rest of her clothes watched the water pour from it. It was actually quite funny, almost like a waterfall. Looking down she noticed her shirt was slightly see-through. Well, it wasn't as bad as being completely naked.

Alice reached up to pull off the headband Miriam had given to her so she could wring that out too but, to her dismay, she realised it wasn't there. Frantically she looked around, not wanting to lose the only reminder she had of her friend. Alice looked out at the glistening water to see if she could see the red bow. All she saw were waves that almost looked liked quicksilver glistening in the sun. They bobbed up and down in a calm manner as if they were taunting Alice for freaking out slightly. Well, the headband wasn't there. She might as well go somewhere instead of standing there looking like a moron.

Alice stood up and gathered all her clothes she had taken off. She tied the still damp jacket around her waist and stuffed her socks inside her shoes that she carried limply in one hand. Looking right and then left, Alice decided she'd walk right across the beach. She had to go somewhere and she wasn't going into that forest not even if her life depended on it. Taking a deep breath she started to walk forward. Right seemed, well, the right way to go. She had to go somewhere and since she had no idea which way lead where, she might as well head in a direction that had a bit of hope in its name. Right was right while left was wrong.

As Alice started to walk right she stopped, remembering there was a phrase that actually said 'left is right and right is wrong' so with a sigh she turned and walked left. Lucky left. Hopefully the saying would live up to itself.

Heading left though, seemed like the completely wrong idea. Maybe left wasn't actually right after all. Alice found herself walking and walking and walking. Was there any civilization here? Where was any people? At some point she'd probably have to go into the forest. Maybe there were some freaky tribe people who'd help her. But what if they were cannibals? Alice shook the thoughts out of her head. There really was no use in panicking. She would just wind herself up, get ultra paranoid and probably get herself killed by doing the most stupid of things.

She needed to think positive. Positive was good when you were in a dire situation.

Sighing, Alice sat down, tired from all the walking. She stared out at the ocean. It was the same quicksilver sea with the same taunting waves. She lay down in the sand not even caring if sand got into her hair.

Where was she? Was this really Wonderland? Her stomach rumbled. Alice rolled over muttering into the sand. She was so hungry. If she had her bag with her then she could have had something to eat. She didn't really care if it was just an apple and some soggy sandwiches, it was still food. Food she didn't have with her. Now she was going to starve to death. Hopefully there was food about.

She sat up and looked around the beach for food. If this was Wonderland then where were the cakes that said eat me on the labels? Alice didn't even care if she grew ten feet tall. At least it was food. But there were no cakes. There wasn't anything. She scanned the beach again then turned around to face the forest. Still no cakes.

Alice wanted to scream but she was tired so she didn't have the energy to. Instead she lay down on the sand again, lying on her back. This was definitely not what she expected Wonderland to be like.

From her position in the sand she could see the forest. Suddenly the idea of going in there wasn't that bad; there could be food. She thought about it but there could still be cannibals in there. Or maybe she could find Miriam. The thought of Miriam filled her head. She had completely forgotten Miriam; she had been too busy thinking about her own troubles.

"Miriam?" she called out. As expected, there was no reply. Alice sat up. She was here to save Miriam wasn't she? So she was going to find her even if that meant going into the foreboding forest that lay ahead.

Then something caught her eye. Red? Alice whipped her head around. There she saw her headband. It was resting on what looked like a log in the shape of a man being attacked by some strange creature. Not only was it surprising to see her headband but also Alice had been here before. Now that she recognised the log her surroundings started to become familiar. This had to be Wonderland then if she'd only walked in a straight line but had somehow come in a full circle.

Alice walked over to where her headband lay and picked it up. What was strange was that there were no footprints anywhere. She sighed as she placed the headband on her head. It seemed the only way she could go was through the forest. So she turned, facing the dark shadows amongst the trees, and walked forward into the embrace of the forest.

#

The forest wasn't as dreary and dismal as Alice first thought it would be like. Sure, it had been terrifying to walk in amongst the shadowing trees to begin with but once that was over and done with the place she was walking though wasn't really bad at all. The only bad thing was all the sharp bits on the floor that stung her feet, but she refused to put her soaking wet shoes and socks back on.

Some parts of the forest resembled a towering rainforest, only there was next to no humidity in the air which Alice could not have been more grateful for. Trees loomed over her, vines dangling down in front of her face just a little too often. Ivy climbed up the trunks of numerous trees, curling around and latching on like blood sucking leeches. Huge bushes and other rainforest styled vegetation were scattered everywhere while strange birds flew around her head. The birds definitely looked like something out of Wonderland, being as brightly coloured and deformed looking as they were, but then again, as far as Alice was aware, the birds in the rainforest were just as crazy looking. Also, they tweeted as much in here. All Alice could hear was the low background hum of a chorus of birds. She swore she could hear a deranged monkey howl too but she hadn't seen any monkeys yet, unless she was willing to call herself a one.

The odd thing about the forest though was it wasn't just a rainforest; it was only half a rainforest. Amongst the taller trees were smaller ones, as if the taller ones had been breeding and spreading offspring. The thing about the smaller ones though was the fact they were just your average tree, the ones you'd find in a small little woods back at home, not a rainforest. There were some pine trees too, pine trees that grew round red flowers so they ended up resembling Christmas trees.

Alice had gone over to pick one of the flowers but it remained firmly attached to the tree so she had quickly thrown in the towel and walked away. The pollen of the flower had spilt all over her hands making them glitter in the sunlight. Was it a Wonderland Christmas tree? If it was they must have had an interesting Christmas, if they celebrated it at all.

After Alice had shaken the glitter off her hands, refusing to let herself look like she sparkled in the sun, she swiftly turned to examine the other flowers around her. Even though she was clearly in a rainforest there were bundles of flowers everywhere, resembling an average avid gardener's garden. There were so many flowers that Alice couldn't possibly name them all, but she could identity a few like chrysanthemums, hyacinths, tulips and the odd, occasional sunflower. As she had glanced at one of the sunflowers a face magically manifested on it and grinned menacingly at her. With wide eyes she had hurried on ahead, not looking back over her shoulder.

Alice carefully made her way through the rainforest-garden combo. After stepping on a really sharp stone she grunted and rubbed the sole of her foot. It was cut, but not too badly. Trying to get a better look at the underside of her foot, she ended up losing her balance and falling over, landing painfully on the ground. It did mean she could actually lift up her foot so she could see it, but not without a wince. She was right, it wasn't cut too badly, but she didn't want to risk an infection. Since she was sitting down she decided put her shoes back on. They weren't too wet anymore, just a little damp.

After she had pulled on her socks and shoes, Alice painfully rolled around and scrambled to her feet. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear she continued on her way, glad no one was there to watch her embarrassing fall. Or so she thought.

Amongst the trees was a woman watching her intently. Similarly to Chalice, this woman was dressed head to toe in white, although her corset had a pinkish tint to it. She didn't have white hair like Chalice though, or rabbit ears or pink eyes. Instead her hair was a very pale, mousy brown, a brown that was almost white - almost white with a couple of pure white strands scattered around, but somehow they didn't seem to make her look old, almost younger, matching her soft blue eyes.

She followed Alice with her gaze. With a little meaningless sigh she aimed to step out from behind the tree to talk to the girl but a flash of red caught her attention. Looking up she saw a young man leaning against a tree opposite her, also watching Alice. She knew exactly who this was.

Slowly Abaddon drew his gaze away from Alice and stared at the woman. He shook his head in a non-menacing way to tell her not to go after Alice, and then walked around the tree and out of sight.

Quickly glancing at Alice, whom was now quite a distance away, the woman ran as silently as she possibly could to the tree where Abaddon had been. She circled it once, then twice, sighing in annoyance when she couldn't find him.

In the meantime, Alice, being completely oblivious to all of this, had reached the end of the worn down trail she had been following. Now all that was in front of her were too many flowers. As she stood there, perpetually puzzled on where to go, the woman - now behind another tree - moved to go and speak to her, but she didn't get too far because again she looked up and saw Abaddon lounging against one of the various trees. When he looked at her this time it was more of a glare, clearly telling her to stop what ever she was planning to do. The woman looked at him and screwed her face up in annoyance.

"Walking through the flowers is fine, they won't kill you," she blurted out.

Abaddon looked at her with a glare hat meant death but she didn't see it for long as she slipped behind her tree. Alice looked up, having heard her speak. Someone was there? Alice made her way to the tree to find the person but the woman slipped around to the other side of the tree and, before Alice could see her, sprinted to the tree where Abaddon had been. Yet again he wasn't there.

She stuck her head around the edge of the tree trunk to see where Alice was now, only to have someone cover her mouth with their hand and yank her backwards. The woman let out an inaudible, muffled scream at the surprise then looked over her shoulder to see none other than Abaddon. He spun her around so she was facing him and then, keeping one hand on her mouth, gripped her shoulder tightly and bent down so he was her height, staring directly into her eyes.

"Didn't you get what I mean?" He hissed in her face. He knew she wasn't going to answer so he continued to question her. "She sent you, didn't she?"

The woman gave a muffled reply.

"A simply nod or shake of the head will suffice," he said but when she still made a muffled reply he grunted and took his hand away from her mouth.

"I don't know who you're talking about."

"Damn it, you know who I'm talking about." He slammed his hand against her mouth again, now that she had spoken, and she gave him a wide eyed, surprised stare. "The White Rabbit, she sent you."

The woman shrugged and made a similar muffled reply to the one she had made before.

With an exasperated moan he asked. "Chalice, did she send you or not?"

She stared at him.

"Did she send you or not?" He leant in close as he hissed at her. This time the woman quickly nodded, looking slightly scared. A small smile snuck across his face. "Well then, glad we got that settled."

The woman didn't dare sigh in relief as he removed his hand from her mouth and stepped back.

"Now, I have nothing against you, so you can live," he said, his cold voice out of place against his smile. Eyes narrowing and tone darkening, he spoke again. "If you dare attempt to talk to her again I will kill you, understand?"

"Y-yes, sir," the woman said.

Abaddon shifted his gaze down to her legs then looked back up into her eyes. "I hope you can run on those."

The woman glanced down too. She knew he didn't hope she could run, a clearly obvious lie, but she knew she would be able to anyway since she was well practiced. Even if the lower half of both her legs were just wooden pegs, she could still run fairly fast.

She looked up again and Abaddon simply waved at her before walking away in the direction Alice had left in. The woman remained staring forward before she slowly shifted her gaze to follow him but neither he nor Alice were in sight. All she could see was a line of crushed flowers, an obvious indicator as to where Alice had gone.

The woman looked back forwards and sighed. She remembered Abaddon's words though. Looking up in the direction he left again she wondered what he meant but this time, instead of nothing being there, there was something there. Several somethings in fact.

There were several large four-legged creatures, all black and looking like they were made out of a fusion of shadows. Their details were lacking but the sharp sets of teeth they sported were clearly visible. As they growled at the woman, she felt whatever she had left, call it hope of a chance of survival, was crushed.

That must have been why he asked if she could run.

Not willing to wait there any longer, she spun on what little she had that one could refer to as a heel and ran as fast as she could, desperate to get away from there. The black creatures caught sight of her and started to follow.

Alice soon ended up finding herself in a similar predicament. It started with her walking through the flowers, feeling really bad about walking throught and crushing them. Alice had always been one not to crush any type of flower when she was younger, and when she grew older too. But, there was no point in feeling bad, Miriam was more important than a flower's feeling.

The whole time Abaddon stared at her grumpily from the shadows. Was it impossible for her to hurry up? This part of Wonderland was boring, why did she have to linger here?

With a glance to the side he saw several of the shadow creatures he had summoned earlier standing next to him. He looked back at Alice and smiled slyly as he said, "You better hurry, Alice."

At those words the creatures burst out from the trees and charged towards the unsuspecting girl. She looked back over her shoulder as she heard their horrendous howls and her face twisted into one of horrific dismay. What were they?

**~Author's Notes~**

**Sorry about the late update, we can be a bit forgetful. But e good news is we're finally in Wonderland! Now you might as well forget about this woman whom appears, she will return in Chapter 27. Any theories on whom she might be is welcome though! And Abaddon shows his slightly more evil side here, and his prowess for magic, it seems. Rate, review, argue, whatever, see you at the next chapter!**

**~Kate and Anne**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 05

It took Alice a fraction of a second to realise that she was in danger. With a quick yelp she turned back around and started to sprint, not having a single care about the flowers anymore. The howling creatures gave chase, trampling even more of the flowers she had tried not to. Her foot slipped slightly on the loose soil of the ground and she fell to her hands, yet in a flash was straight up on her feet and running again. Instead of running straight this time though she took a sharp turn to the left, hoping it would throw off some of the creatures. It didn't work.

Alice pushed herself to run even faster; she was running on pure adrenaline now. Pushing herself to keep running, she could feel a stitch forming in her side, her lungs feeling like they were collapsing in on themselves.

Looking over her shoulder again, Alice could still see the shadow creatures chasing her. She looked back just at the right time for she nearly she missed the drop in front of her. She skidded to a stop, narrowly avoiding toppling over the edge.

She looked back over her shoulder, knowing there was no where for her to go - apart from a certain direction.

She looked back around at the twenty foot drop in front of her. There were trees at the bottom, not too bad. With no other was to go she took a leap of either extreme bravery or moronic stupidity and hurtled down towards the trees.

Her own decision of jumping didn't prevent her from screaming as she tumbled through the air, plummeting and falling. Her fall was broken as she fell through the top of the trees, landing with an aching thud on the ground below, coughing as the pain flowed through her. Reaching up, she grabbed an unnaturally low branch of the tree she fell through and excruciatingly pulled herself to her feet. Breathing deeply, her legs wobbled as she tried to catch her breath.

It didn't last for long though. The creatures that had been chasing her all leapt off the cliff and landed in front of her. Alice's face fell as it dawned on her that she was now trapped between those creatures and said cliff. With a grimace she stood up straight. Whatever was going to happen she refused to let herself to get mauled apart by these things before she saved Miriam.

As the creatures ran towards her, she threw herself to the side. The creatures crashed into the cliff wall as she started to run away, yelping as the impact of the creatures into the small cliff side caused rocks and dust to fall down. She cowered underneath her arms in a feeble attempt to keep safe as she dashed along the cliff wall. It didn't take long for the creatures to catch up to her though. She really needed to hunt down a way to escape.

As soon as that thought occurred to her she spotted a small cave up ahead in the side of the cliff, a cave small enough for only her to fit through. If it was directly in front of her she could have skidded into it, but since it was at a right angle to the direction she was running there would be no chance of that. There wouldn't be any time to drop and crawl in either, not with the creatures directly on her heels.

Upon looking over her shoulder again she noticed the creatures were slowly falling behind. Either she was speeding up or they were slowing down. Most likely the latter, which confused her greatly, but she didn't really care because it gave her the opportunity to drop to the ground and crawl in backwards, not wanting to face away from the imminent danger.

Now she was all alone in the darkness, she sighed and collapsed. That was surely enough exercise for one day.

Lifting her head she looked at the entrance. One of the creatures was there, pawing at the ground in desperation to try and reach her. If Alice was Miriam she would have childishly stuck her tongue out at the creature, but she wasn't so she just laughed quietly to herself. It wasn't that she felt happy, (well, she did because she was still alive) she just felt relieved.

Again, not for long though. The larger creature stepped aside and suddenly a smaller creature appeared from nowhere and started to crawl inside. Well, this was going to be great.

Alice quickly started to shuffle backwards, the cave she was in apparently a lot deeper than she had realised. But crawling backwards was never anyone's expertise and so the creature was approaching her faster then she was trying to shuffle away.

Suddenly a sharp whistle cut through the air. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the tiny creature wasn't coming any closer. It stared at her then looked back over its shoulder in the direction of where a second whistle came from. The creature seemed to moan then it melded into one shapeless shadow before forming back into its creature self again, although this time it was facing the other way. It sulked as it walked out.

Alice frowned. What was that? She got up on her elbows as she stared down towards the entrance. As the creature exited and disappeared, Alice saw the feet of someone standing there. All she could make out were the bottom of a pair of black boots, and what looked like the bottom of a red dress. Had someone just saved her or were they the master of the creatures? Whatever the answer was, Alice didn't particularly feel like hanging around to find out.

She looked over her shoulder and realised that the cave she was in resembled more of a tunnel, which hopefully meant a way out, so somehow she managed to roll over and ungracefully turn around before crawling away.

In the meantime Abaddon was standing outside the entrance to the little cave; the red dress Alice had thought she'd seen was in fact the bottom of his coat. He looked at all the creatures whom looked back at him with their shadowy stares.

"Go now," he demanded. "You're no longer needed here."

All the creatures simply faded away into the surrounding shadows of the forest. Abaddon sighed. He knelt down to check if Alice was crawling away. As he looked down into the darkness he saw Alice doing exactly that. Predictable. He smirked then stood up. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers, he dawdled away, whistling a sad tune to himself.

Alice had no idea he had been spying on her though as she continued to crawl down the tunnel. She hoped it was a tunnel, because she had no way of telling if it had a dead end or not. It would be rather bad if it suddenly ended and she had to back. It didn't end after ten minutes though, and it didn't end after what felt like an hour; an hour of crawling through depressing darkness, freaking out when she felt spiders crawl over her hands, and bumping her head on the ceiling of the tunnel as it started to narrow dramatically. Also, her knees were killing her.

Eventually she saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Quite ironic really, since it was supposed to symbolise death which she'd only literally escaped from. With a sigh, she crawled faster towards freedom, and upon ranching the end she could see was grass in front of her. She pushed the grass aside so she could crawl out.

Standing up, she brushed down her clothes and looked down. She wasn't in the garden-rainforest now but rather a field of yellowish grass that was taller than her. Alice looked forward. Well, there was only one way to go. She looked over her shoulder almost instinctively before she left but what she saw surprised her greatly.

The cliff with the tunnel she had been crawling through was no longer there. She whirled around but it was nowhere in sight. All that was there was grass, grass and more grass. Alice sighed in pain. She bent down and rubbed her shins; her legs still hurt from when she had fallen through the tree. With a little shake of her head she stood up and trudged in any random direction, wondering where it would lead her.

#

Before Alice had ever entered Wonderland, Miriam gradually opened her eyes. She was lying face down in an unknown location, her stomach freezing. Grumbling, she pushed herself up so she was sitting, her bones creaking painfully as she did so. Could bones even be painful? Maybe she was imagining things.

She had been lying on a cold, hard surface, which would explain why her body felt sore. Her neck felt stiff and tense, as it would usually do if you had been sleeping in an awkward position. Slowly and painfully, she pushed herself up to her feet, swaying slightly because something large and heavy was sat atop her head. Miriam gained control of her body once more, no longer swinging to and fro like a pendulum, and with her feet firmly pressed against the floor (they too feeling cold like her stomach, which gave her a sinking feeling that they were in fact bare), she lifted up a single hand to feel the heavy hat thing. As she did so there was a light jingle sound which dragged Miriam's attention to her wrist instead. Her sleeves definitely weren't a part of any shirt she owned; as far as she was aware she had never seen a shirt with red and black stripes running vertically along her arms. She was pretty sure they were red and black. The fact the lighting was really bad meant she couldn't perceive colours very well, so the stripes could have easily been brown and navy.

That wasn't what Miriam was interested in (although she couldn't help but puzzle over her different clothes). The thing she was interested in was what had made the little jingle. Miriam eventually discovered the sound that had attracted her attention was the object attached to the end of a long piece of string, with the other end wrapped around her wrist. She shook her wrist which prompted more jingling. Miriam narrowed her eyes as she focused on the object. It looked like a small, round bell and, by the way it jingled, she was fairly sure it was. Her other arm was exactly the same.

After staring at her arms for a brief moment, Miriam lifted up a single hand again and felt what was on her head. It was hard and felt quite rough. Moving her hands, Miriam could feel several holes as well as what felt like two massive horns. The next thing she felt was her face, and luckily that felt normal.

Having enough of this strange attire she'd woken up in, Miriam began looking around. She could see she was in a dark, dingy, dungeon style place, surrounded by four dirty walls that looked like they were made out of charred, black stone. It was either that or the darkness was obscuring her vision. There were chains scattered along the walls that had clearly been used to lock up people, for a skeleton dangled from one set of chains while a body less pair of decaying hands hung from the other. Miriam pulled a face as she saw the hands, the stumps of their ends covered in dried blood. She decided to avoid that area of the dungeon.

One of the walls had a section of iron bars through which Miriam could see an equally dark corridor. At the top of one of the wall opposite was a small window where a jagged ray of light came through. Miriam looked up at the window and narrowed her eyes in determination. Approaching the wall she examined the chains that hung from it. The links that made up the chains were big and chunky so it looked like Miriam would be able to climb them, even if it would be hard. With all of her practice climbing trees, a chain wouldn't be that difficult. It would most certainly be easier, if they remained still and didn't rotate, that was.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Miriam jumped and twisted around to see the speaker. There, standing on the other side of the bars, was the shape of a man. The darkness hid away the majority of the details of him, so all Miriam could tell was he was wearing a long coat of some sort and judging by his build and voice he wasn't that old.

"Who are you?" Miriam inquired, narrowing her eyes at this mysterious figure.

"Not anyone important." The man snickered. His voice sounded somewhat familiar.

After a few seconds Miriam scowled and finally asked, "Where am I?"

He just completely ignored her question and waved his hand. A grand and impressive gothic styled mirror, shapes of skulls and roses intricately carved into it, appeared from the black magic the man had summoned.

"Want to see your new outfit?" the man asked with a snicker.

"Well I can barely see into the mirror." Miriam pointed out.

Miriam couldn't see, but she had a feeling the man had frowned. This time she heard him click his fingers. There was a sudden flare of light, which caused Miriam to wince and look away. Blinking several times, she slowly turned to look back in the mirror, a little gasp escaping her lips as she did so.

On the mirror now was a range of black candles, intricate patterns sketched into them so they matched the mirror perfectly. All the candles were on the side Miriam was standing on, so she couldn't see anymore of the man but her outfit shone up like light refracting from a diamond.

Her outfit resembled that of a distorted jester. She could now confirm the sleeves of her shirt did in fact have red and black stripes, and the round things that jingled were definitely bells made out of brass, if Miriam wasn't mistaken. Her trousers had the same striped pattern as her sleeves and were slight baggy around her ankles. Harem, Miriam recalled the style being called. Miriam knew the vertical stripes should have made her legs look even skinnier than usual, but luckily the flared out trousers prevented that. It was the same with her sleeves too, which flared out, bishop style, so you couldn't actually see the shape of her arms.

The main bodice of Miriam's shirt came just above her belly button; that explained why her stomach had felt cold earlier. The left half of her shirt was black while the right half was white. To complete it, it was done up with large brass buttons made to look like cogs.

The heavy thing that was sat atop her head was a ram's skull, the thick horns curling around and looking quite menacing. Miriam cringed when looking at it, hoping it wasn't real and just a rather decorative hat. Small brass bells were tied by black strings to the skull's horns, just like with her wrists.

That wasn't it for the bells. A thick, black ribbon was tied tightly around her hips, each end with their own bell. These bells weren't small and round like the other ones though, instead they resembled miniature church bells.

"You changed my clothes!" Miriam squealed, stumbling backwards slightly. "You pervert!"

As Miriam moved her feet, she heard yet another jingling sound. Looking down, she saw bells were tied around her ankles too, although they were firmly attached and not dangling from the ends of long pieces of strings. As Miriam stared down at her feet, she flexed her toes. Yes, her feet were bare. Miriam hated her feet, so generally she wore socks everywhere. She had ugly feet, like most people, which was the reason she ended up crying out. Something was completely wrong.

"My feet are different!" she exclaimed, lifting a foot up to her face, stumbling slightly to the side as she lost her balance.

"Your...feet are different?"The man sounded puzzled.

"Yes! The toenails aren't cracked and the toes are correctly proportioned and don't look horrendously disfigured!" That was a slight exaggeration. Miriam didn't think the man would care and she continued babbling as she stared at the underside of her foot. "The skin isn't peeling either; they even look thicker as if I've magically gained weight!"

"Don't be stupid, you can't magically gain-" the man started but Miriam kept babbling.

Leaning down she tested the width of her legs. "My legs aren't so skinny, so I must have gained weight!" She moved to check her arms. "And if anything my arms are more muscular. What the hell have you done to me!?"

"I haven't done-"

"I'm even taller!" Miriam wasn't paying attention. She grabbed each ponytail (that were thankfully still ginger) and stared wide-eyed at the mirror. "My hair's longer too. Not just that but I just look prettier in general! Even my- my-"

"Will you please just listen?" the man asked, sounded extremely impatient.

"Even my chest is bigger!" Miriam finished off her sentence with a high pitched squeak.

"For the love of Wonderland just shut up!" the man yelled, having enough of Miriam's pesky banter.

Miriam immediately zipped her mouth up. Grabbing the top of the mirror, she pulled it down towards her so she could peer over it at the man. "Why did you change me? Not just my clothes but actual me?"

"I didn't," the man said, shrugging his shoulders. "If I had though, I would have changed them magically, not physically. Just like this."

He waved his hand through the air again. Miriam's clothes shimmered and she was back to wearing what she had been dressed in when she had been crudely kidnapped. After a couple of seconds her clothes shimmered back into the distorted jester outfit.

"Hey, change them back! I don't want this outfit!" Miriam complained.

"Can't do that I'm afraid," the man said.

"Why not!?"

"I didn't change it. I only changed you back to your original clothes." Suddenly the mirror disappeared, literally in a puff of smoke. Miriam yelped as she fell forwards, engulfed in the darkness once more. "Wonderland changed it back to the ones you're wearing now. It seems like it has taken a liking to you. I can only assume it's given you a fitter, healthier body for strange reasons of its own."

Before Miriam had time to reply another light started to shine brightly, radiating from the flames of the black candles that now lined the bottom of the barred wall. Miriam stared at them then looked up. She could make out the details of the man's face now, not that he was a man, more a guy about her age. He had scruffy, brown hair, and was only a little older than Miriam herself. He stared down at her, fixing the golden lining that had been folded over at the end of his sleeve. Miriam stared at him, recognising the sky grin on his face and the red, double-breasted coat, that looked quite posh and expensive.

"You!" Miriam exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the guy she recognised as her captor as she scrambled to her feet.

"Me?" He stared at her.

"Y-you kidnapped me!" Miriam blurted.

"Oh, that? Well, I was hoping you wouldn't hold that against me." He smiled. The way his smile stretched across his face made him look far too creepy for Miriam's liking.

"You kidnapped me! How would I not hold that against you?"

"Because you're not a bad person." He stared at Miriam with a neutral expression.

"So, answer me, you freak." Miriam gritted her teeth together. "Why did you change me?"

He sighed, deliberately melodramatic. "I didn't. Wonderland did. Did you even listen to a word I said?"

Miriam frowned. "What do you mean 'Wonderland did'?"

"Humans." The young man huffed, speaking in an offensive tone. "You're in Wonderland. The magic of Wonderland most likely reacted to you being a normal so, in compensation, it made you magical. Possibly the reason it gave you a healthier and not so scrawny body, so you can use whatever it had given you easier."

"Wonderland, as in Wonderland from _Alice in Wonderland_?"

"_Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_." He corrected her.

"Same thing. Whatever. Are you going to answer my question?" Miriam clenched her fists in annoyance.

"Well, what other Wonderland would I be talking about?" He looked at her with a disgusted face.

"Wonderland doesn't exist!" Miriam complained.

"You saw me use magic, it must be easy to believe." Her captor created four cards and held them fanned out in his left hand, grabbing one of the bars with his right one. "Wonderland is more than a story."

"Who are you then, the Jack of Hearts?" Miriam asked, naming the obvious character from the top of her head.

He let out a cackle and threw the four cards down in front of her. "Jack of Hearts? You have got to be kidding me! I would never sink that low. When you do, however, meet the Jack of Hearts, remember to call him the Knave. He gets offended if someone even mutters the word 'Jack' around him, even if 'Knave' is a more derogative word."

"Then who are you, the Mad Hatter?" Miriam snuck a step closer to the man.

He cackled again. "Does it look like I'm wearing a hat? And it's just the Hatter, not the Mad Hatter. Learn the facts before you spew random filth."

Miriam grumbled. "Then who are you?"

"I have a name, want to hear?" The man grabbed another bar with his left hand, leaning his head between the small gap. After Miriam didn't reply he said, "It's Abaddon. My name is Abaddon."

"Okay, Abaddon, who are you?" Miriam said, stepping closer to him so she could stare him down.

"The cards will tell you." Abaddon just smiled at her.

Miriam glared at him then looked down at the ground. Lifting a foot up she saw she was standing on the cards Abaddon had thrown down previously. She stepped back and knelt down, picking up the four cards, one by one, before holding them in a fan in a single hand. Miraculously she had picked them up in order of importance.

The first card was a jester, the jester being a twisted drawing of her. Miriam frowned. That wasn't a very funny joke.

The next card was a Jack of Hearts. The jack on the card didn't look like a normal jack. It was a sketch of an insane looking man, a crooked smile stretching across the bottom half of his face. It looked like a heart was drawn around his right eye, which was partially covered by his black scruffy hair. He definitely didn't look like Abaddon.

Miriam let out a startled gasp when she looked at the Queen of Hearts. She stared wide-eyed at the familiar pale blonde hair and moss green eyes, a red bow sat atop the queen's head. Alice. It most definitely was her.

"A-Alice?" Miriam muttered to herself.

Abaddon laughed. "I'm not Alice."

"But she's here, on the card!" Miriam exclaimed.

Abaddon laughed again. "It's because I will make her my queen."

"Your queen?"

Abaddon nodded. Miriam stared at him for a second then looked at the very last card. There, staring at her from a simple drawing was Abaddon, a sly smile drawn on his face.

"You're the King of Hearts?" It wasn't a question, just a statement, but the rising intonation at the end of Miriam's voice turned it into one.

Abaddon laughed yet again, but the laugh sounded more sly and evil than before. "Yes, that's me."

Miriam backed into the cell slightly. "Why have you kidnapped me? What do you want to do with Alice?"

"I want to lure her here," Abaddon said. "You're my bait."

Miriam scowled. "You can't keep me here! I will get out!"

Abaddon snorted. "Not going to happen. You'll be stuck here until Alice comes to save you."

"Don't you dare hurt Alice!" Miriam yelled but there was nothing she could do. Abaddon gave her another sly grin before he burst into a bunch of blue butterflies and disappeared, his laughter still haunting the air around her.

Miriam sank to her knees in despair. She didn't understand what was going on. She was stuck here in Wonderland, kidnapped by the King of Hearts, stuck in a ridiculous costume that Wonderland had apparently given her. Why exactly did Wonderland have a soft spot for her? She probably wouldn't know.

The cards were still in her hand, shadows cast over them from the light of the candles that were still there. Alice, why was she the Queen of Hearts? Abaddon had said he was planning to make her his queen. Miriam just sighed and buried her face in her hands, absorbed by the despair of it all.

**~Author's Notes~**

**so we finally get to meet Miriam again! She's all right, don't worry! And thanks to Rolling-chan for fixing my blunders :)**

**There is an explanation behind Miriam's transformation but that's like, in the sequel to this.**

**~Kate**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 06

The tall grass had taken Alice nowhere. It had been quite frightening, walking somewhere with no sense of direction. She had walked for what was like miles, but eventually she found a small patch of earth to rest her head and sleep on, finally untying her jacket from around her waist and using it as a soft pillow. She'd been surprised she still had it, and in perfect condition too, since she was certain she'd lost it when running through the forest. She'd only noticing it was still tied around her waist when she had been walking through the tall grass.

Unknown to her, Abaddon carefully watched her from a distance as he had done throughout her little escapade in the forest. He was currently sitting in a tree he had made grow that towered even over the grass so he could look down and watch her. She looked so peaceful when asleep. Abaddon wondered if he looked peaceful when he slept himself. Probably not, not that he slept much anyway.

As he watched Alice he found himself frowning at the shadow creatures that walked around her, eying her suspiciously.

"Didn't I tell you to go?" Abaddon muttered irritably.

The shadow creatures replied with their own muttering noises, refusing to move.

"Stupid mongrels," he mumbled to himself. The creatures could come in pretty handy sometimes, but the rest of the time they were just plain irritating. "Shoo, the lot of you! You don't want to face my wrath!"

The shadow creatures seemed to glare up at him, but they obeyed and simply faded away. That was better.

Now back to business. Watching Alice sleep wasn't what Abaddon had come to do. With one wave of his hand the grass surrounding Alice disappeared almost as if it had been made of smoke. This was Abaddon's world. He could do what he wanted with it.

He silently jumped down from the tree, waving his hand so the tree itself disappeared too. He then eyed the tiny shadow creatures pacing around Alice, the ones he hadn't realised still remained. Cursing, he demanded them to leave and once they had he crept closer to Alice.

"Alice, it's time to wake up," he whispered into the sleeping girl's ear.

She stirred then opened one eye. A look of confusion spread across her face as she stared up at him. It was like she was trying to figure out where she was and who he was, until she gave out a squeal then recoiled away from him.

"You're that man, the man who has been following me. Get away from me!"

Alice scrambled backwards on her hands, scraping her skin on the floor. Looking around she realised she wasn't in the long grass she had fallen asleep in. What had happened?

"I made the grass go away," the man in front of her said as he took a step towards her.

"I warn you to stay away from me!" Alice yelled, scrambling to her feet and fleeing backwards several metres.

The man sighed and stood still where he was standing.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, crossing his arms. What was usually taken as an intimidating gesture didn't seem intimidating at all. His voice sounded calm and soothing, not like a voice of a man who was out to hurt people. Not like the voice of a man at all, really, because he wasn't that old,

Alice looked at him closely. He looked a couple of years older than her, which would place him at about eighteen. He had longish scruffy hair that fell to his broad shoulders, curling up at the ends. In all honestly, Alice found him quite attractive, but that hardly mattered. He was still a freak that had ben stalking her.

He stood up and brushed imaginary dust of his coat. It was a double-breasted, red, trench coat with golden lining and a wide collar. His waistcoat underneath was also gold, and he had red trousers tucked into knee high black boats which seemed a little impractical to trek around the grass in. His overall regal attire made him look somewhat like royalty. His eyes looked kind and caring. Maybe he wasn't going to hurt Alice.

"Who are you?" she asked. "Why were you following me? What do you want?"

"My name is Abaddon," the man said, his left hand breaking from his crossed arms. "I was following you because I was looking out for you, as in to keep you safe not to hurt you."

"Keep me safe? Why would you need to keep me safe?" Alice asked.

"Because there are some very bad people out there who want to hurt you," Abaddon said, and he sounded very sincere, as if he was telling the truth.

"But why would people want to hurt me?" Alice asked, completely confused.

"That doesn't matter now," Abaddon said, he waved his hand in a dismissive way. "What really matters is that I'm here to tell you how to save your friend."

Alice froze. She looked up at the man called Abaddon, "Do you mean Miriam?"

Abaddon looked at her. He cocked his head to the side and looked up into the sky as if he was watching the clouds float by. Alice looked up at the clouds. They were white and looked like candyfloss.

"You mean Miss Toren?" He looked back down at Alice "Is that right Alice? You're looking for a girl named Miriam Toren?"

"Yes. Yes I am!" Alice jumped up with excitement at her friend's name. "Do you know where she is?"

Abaddon looked at her for a second before answering. "Yes, I do know where she is, but you might not like it, Alice."

"I don't care whether I won't like it or not; tell me where she is!" Alice demanded before hesitating when she realised what Abaddon had been saying. "Why are you calling me Alice?" she asked.

Abaddon laughed slightly. "It's your name, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but how'd you know?" she said.

Abaddon made tutting sounds and shook his head. "Didn't Chalice say? We all know your name. You are Alice. You've come to Wonderland to defeat the evil King of Hearts. Chalice told you, didn't she?"

"I-I don't understand." Chalice had mentioned something about the King of Hearts, but Alice had no idea how she was involved in the king's affair.

"Haven't you ever read _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_?" Abaddon sighed. "Alice is taken to Wonderland to defeat the Queen of Hearts. Although it's actually a king now; the queen died long ago. Her son rules in her stead."

"I'm not following," Alice said slowly, looking at Abaddon in suspicion and confusion.

Abaddon sighed again as if he were annoyed. "I suppose I should tell you why people want to hurt you."

"You better," Alice grumbled.

"Years ago there were two queens that ruled Wonderland, the White Queen and the Red Queen." At the mention of each queen he held out his hands. A white queen chess piece appeared first in his left hand, then a red queen appeared in his right.

Alice stared on in puzzlement. "You can use magic?"

"Yes, a common trait found amongst the denizens of Wonderland, is that a problem?"

Alice shook her head and let him continue.

"So, the queens were supposed to rule simultaneously, but the Red Queen grew dark and she over threw the White Queen, renaming herself the Queen of Hearts." At this he crushed the white queen, only smoke remaining in his hand. "She ruled over Wonderland with an iron fist, no one able to escape her evil clutches. Everyone was trapped in her wicked torturous world."

Abaddon started circling Alice as he continued, the red queen turning into smoke and disappearing too. "Now, there was a group of people who defied the queen, a group of people who fought for the freedom of Wonderland's people. They sought to turn Wonderland back into the place of wonder it had originally been named after. There was this guy, the leader of the rebellion. Everyone looked up to him. There were quite a few bounties on his head. The Queen of Hearts wanted him dead at all costs, and she did all she could to make that happen. The two armies, the queen's Royalists clad in red and the Rebellion clad in blue were at war. But that doesn't matter that was all in the past."

"What does this have to do with Miriam?" Alice demanded. "And what does this have to do with people wanting to hurt me? If this doesn't matter why are you telling me?"

"Shhh," Abaddon said, approaching Alice and putting a finger to her lips. She hit his hand away. "You ask a lot of questions. Just let me finish my story. It has everything to do with Miriam. It has everything to do with people wanting to hurt you and it is leading up to something that really does matter."

Abaddon smiled then walked away and started circling her again. "Now, the queen had a son and the rebellion leader had a daughter. When the war reached breaking point, they were both taken out of Wonderland and were taken to—" Abaddon paused and looked at Alice as if he meant for her to finish his sentence.

"Earth," Alice finished after hesitating for a bit. Well, where else would people be taken?

"Ah, now you're getting there." Abaddon laughed. "Yes, they were both taken to Earth. Eventually, the Queen was killed and all returned to peace. In place of the Queen, the Witch of Hearts-"

"Witch of Hearts? She doesn't exist in the books," Alice interrupted, placing her hands on her hips.

"And the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts aren't the same person, didn't pick up on that one, did you? Lewis Carroll wasn't exactly an expert." Abaddon shifted his weight from one foot to another. "I don't know how he managed to write that story really."

"He managed to write it because he's a good author with a good imagination," Alice said, crossing her arms too. Abaddon wasn't making any sense. Suddenly her eyes opened wide. "Wait, what do you mean Lewis Carroll wasn't an expert?"

"He got the facts wrong, so obviously he's not exactly an expert." Abaddon smiled.

"But he couldn't have, he wrote the story!" Alice exclaimed before she paused and thought carefully. "He didn't base his story on the real Wonderland, did he?"

Abaddon snorted and waved his hands at Alice. "As if. There has never been any links from Wonderland to Earth until you were sent there, and that was a long time after Carroll wrote his story."

Alice crossed her arms as she gave Abaddon look. Something was odd about that last sentence, but she knew it was unwise to jump to conclusions. Instead she decided to ask somethi else. "But then how come Wonderland exists then?"

Abaddon just shrugged. "It doesn't matter. What matters is why you're here."

"I'm here to save Miriam," Alice said with determination. "And you're just stalling me."

"Well then, let me continue with my story, hmm?" Abaddon chuckled lightly. "So, where was I? Ah, yes, the Witch of Hearts."

Abaddon sat down on the grass, patting the ground next to him. Hesitantly, Alice sat down next to him, pulling her knees up to her chest as she looked at him warily.

"Well, I suppose I should explain who the Witch of Hearts is. It's self explanatory really; she's the witch that worked for the Queen of Hearts, once called the Red Witch. The Witch of Hearts couldn't continue ruling though, so eventually she found a way to Earth and found the Queen of Hearts' son where she took him back to Wonderland to rule as the King of Hearts

"So, now we are here, the King of Hearts ruling over Wonderland and you, Alice, destined to defeat the King of Hearts. Chalice - the white rabbit remember? – came to find you and bring you back to Wonderland."

"Does that mean I'm the Rebellion leader's daughter?" Alice asked cautiously. It seemed pretty obvious now.

"Yes, you. What do you think I meant when I said 'you were sent there'?" Abaddon smiled. "You were sent to Earth, sent to Earth from here."

"That's what I thought," Alice said.

"It has been told; the child in blue will defeat the child in red." Abaddon spoke as if he had said those words a thousand times. "The King of Hearts has kidnapped your friend to lure you into Wonderland, so he can get to you first, before you can do what you are meant to do."

"Meant to do?" Alice echoed.

"An ancient prophecy or something along those lines. No ones entirely sure where it came from. But don't you seem Alice? That's why this has everything to do with Miriam. She is your bait, to put it bluntly." He sighed. "He also might just have a personal grudge against you."

"Against me?" Alice asked, astonished. "What have I done to deserve that? Apart from being meant to defeat him, I guess."

Abaddon sighed as if it was obvious. "That boy who could do magic, remember him?"

She frowned. "What boy that could do magic?"

He rolled his eyes. "You know, the one you forgot. I suppose it was ridiculous of me to ask if you remembered him."

"The one I-" Alice started before pausing and rethinking what to say. "You mean the hallucinations?"

Abaddon nodded. "Indeed I do. You, Miss Alice, did not have hallucinations. You did indeed meet a boy that could do magic. And that was him, the King of Hearts."

"Wait, wait a second." Things were moving too fast for Alice to process them properly. She took a deep breath and stared at Abaddon intently. "You mean to say that I'm not schizophrenic, that I actually know the King? But how was he there?"

Abaddon groaned. "Did you even pay attention when I said you were both taken to Earth? Evidently not."

Alice only shrugged.

"But yes, that childhood friend of yours wasn't't a hallucination but rather the King of Hearts himself, understand?"

Alice cocked her head to the side. "I'd be an idiot not to. So he can do magic too?"

"Do you ever listen?"

"My tutor tended to scold me for daydreaming, so no."

He didn't seem amused with the remark. "I said it was a common trait amongst the denizens of Wonderland to be able to use magic. The King of Hearts adopted it naturally, as both queens were naturally gifted sorceresses. He's only grown stronger with training from the Witch of Hearts."

She raised her eyebrows is slight disbelief so he decided to move on quickly.

"Either way, you need to be careful, Alice, darling. You need to be very careful. This isn't just about the throne, it's a personal grudge because he can't forgive you for having forgotten him."

Which was fair enough, Alice supposed. But that wasn't the part of Abaddon's utterance that really caught her attention.

"Why did you call me darling?" she said, frowning and moving away slightly from him.

Abaddon pulled a face. "A habit I picked up from someone I've met. He's very annoying. If I say it again you have permission to kill me."

"I'll write a memo to remind me."

"That aside, I suppose it's also because I care for you, you're important to me," Abaddon said, smiling sadly.

"But you've only met me. How could you care for me?" Alice said slowly, staring at this stranger. She slowly moved further, hoping it wasn't too obvious.

Abaddon sighed, momentarily resting his forehead against his knees before looking up at her. "You wouldn't understand."

Alice looked at the man sat next to her with curiosity. There was such sadness in his eyes that she almost felt swallowed by it. "I'm listening. You can tell me."

"No, it really is ridiculous." Abaddon looked away. Was he embarrassed?

"You brought it up, you have to tell me now," she pried.

Abaddon sighed. "I suppose I do, just don't be mad."

She tried her best to smile, which was slightly hard to do in the current situation. "I won't, I promise."

Abaddon turned to look at her, staring at her straight in the eyes. "I'm the Knave of Hearts."

Alice knew she looked taken aback. "What?"

Abaddon held his hands in the air in mock surrender "Just hear me out, okay?"

She just nodded silently.

He sighed once again. "The King of Hearts has, for a while now, sent me continually to keep an eye on you. I've learned a lot about you, and throughout my time watching you, I've come to really care for you."

She raised her eyebrows. "You stalked me?"

He managed a brief smile. "I suppose, if you put it like that. But please believe me when I say I had no evil intentions."

"You had no evil intentions even though you were stalking me?" she asked. "And I suppose you expect me to trust you, even though you've been stalking me."

He smirked slightly. "You make me sound like a creep."

"You basically are."

"A little harsh, don't you think?" He cocked his head to the side.

She mimicked his move as she thought for a moment. Something clicked inside of her, telling her he wasn't bad at all, even if he had technically been stalking her. "All right, I believe you."

"You do?"

"Yes, I do."

Abaddon smiled warmly at her. She was too naïve to realise he was lying through his teeth.

Partially lying anyway.

Maybe he did care for her. Just a little.

Which was why she was going to marry him.

"Let's think of an anecdote for this awfully awkward conversation," he said, slowly dragging out his words. "I suppose it's like you're the fictional character from a book I'm reading. I'm sure there're characters from stories you've fallen in love with."

Alice smiled. He already knew her too well. "Yes, one of which is Alice."

Abaddon nudged her with his elbow. "Narcissism isn't good, you know."

She laughed. Abaddon laughed too and he pushed himself to his feet. "I hope we can now get to know each other properly. But that doesn't matter; you still have some things you need to do." Abaddon reached out a hand. Alice grabbed it and he pulled her to her feet. "Know what you have to do?"

"Find Miriam and kill the King of Hearts." Alice tried to look determined.

Abaddon nodded. "You need to look the part too. You can't go round Wonderland dressed like that."

Still holding her hand, Abaddon twirled Alice around until she felt like she was going to be sick. When he stopped, steadying her in he process, he waved his hand and created a mirror out of smoke. Once Alice had recovered from the dizzy spell she looked in the mirror and gasped.

She wasn't wearing her normal clothes anymore. Her hair wasn't even up. It was down but instead of looking like the usual mess it was it looked like golden sunshine. The headband on her head had disappeared replaced with a large red bow. She was wearing a sky blue dress with a black under breast corset, done up with large silver buckles at the front. Underneath was a white under dress with too many petticoats, hemmed with frills. Her favourite bit had to be the knee-high, white laced up boots. Her least favourite bit was definitely the fact too much cleavage was showing for her liking. The only part of her body she'd ever been keen on showing were her legs.

"Don't you look gorgeous now?" Abaddon asked.

"Uh…" Alice hesitated. "Where's the apron?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Apron?"

She nodded. "Aren't I supposed to wear an apron?"

Abaddon raised his other eyebrow. "Do you need one?"

"Well, Disney's Alice wears an apron."

He laughed. "You're not from Disney."

"Wait, how do you even know what Disney is?" She cocked her head to the side.

Abaddon shook his head with a small smile on his lips. "I've had some time to indulge myself in the human world. I'm surprised you didn't pick up on the fact I knew who Lewis Carrol was."

Alice felt her cheeks go slightly red. "Oh, I didn't, did I?"

Abaddon just laughed at her and shifted the topic. "Now to find the King of Hearts, you need to go to his castle, which is right behind you."

Alice was about to protest that there was only a field of grass behind her but as she turned around she found herself slipping and falling through nothingness.

Alice yelped as she fell, only out of shock, but luckily Abaddon caught her by the arm. Looking down, the colour drained from her face. Instead of being in a large field on grass she was standing on the very edge of a cliff which she had nearly fallen off.

"Be careful you don't slip," Abaddon said, pulling Alice to her feet.

Alice stared at him then turned around to stare at the horizon. The cliff was practically as tall as a skyscraper. At the bottom forests of dark green trees stretched for miles. It didn't look very Wonderland-y. There were only trees, trees and more trees. That was literally it. Surely there should have been something else.

Well, there was just one other thing. In the distance though was a huge castle that looked dark and deadly. Various turrets decorated the whole place, making it look out of shape. The King of Hearts' castle. So that was where Miriam was. In that horrible looking castle. The landscape reminded her of something from 'Lord of the Rings'. That had definitely been a book she'd read many times.

"How exactly did that appear?" she asked as she examined the horizen. "Magic?"

"Yes, but not mine, if you were wondering." He examined the horizen with her. "I'm not that gifted to change a landscape. It's just Wondeland's illusion. With the right spell you can manipulate them perfectly."

Alice nodded, pretending she understood. Wonderland didn't really need to make sense, she supposed. There was a reason it was called Wonderland.

"I wish I could do magic," she eventually said and she sighed.

"I'm sure you will be able to at some point," Abaddon said after a couple of seconds.

"Maybe you can teach me?" Alice suggested.

"This is as much as I can help you I'm afraid," Abaddon smiled weakly.

"Why?" Alice asked. "Stay with me, we can defeat the King of Hearts together!"

Abaddon shook his head. "I can't. Remember? I'm the Knave of Hearts. Hence my formal attire. Got to look good in front of the King. I'm his favourite so I tend to dress the part too."

That would explain why he looked somewhat like a prince.

"Does he like you because of your magic abilities?"

"Other way round, actually. Taught me everything he knows precisely because I am his favourite."

Hopefully that was convincing enough.

"So you're still a bad guy?" Alice eventually asked.

Abaddon chuckled softly. "The Knave of Hearts is a good guy, remember that. I hate the King as much as anyone else does. Ask Chalice, she sent me to tell you this. Didn't she say there would be someone here?" Alice nodded as Abaddon's smile grew. "Remember not to tell anyone my name. They'll recognise it, and somehow it will get back to the King. I don't want that happening."

She nodded to show she understood.

"There is one final thing I can show you though. I can show you where the rabbit hole is. You know, you do need to get down this cliff."

Alice looked over the edge of the cliff and gulped. Yeah, she needed to get down, preferably not by falling. She already had experienced that with a smaller drop, even if she had chosen to leap off herself.

"Again, if you look behind you there will be a house. The people living in that house can help you," Abaddon said, pointing behind her.

Alice looked behind her and this time, there was a house, sitting there in the middle of the grass. She turned around to ask Abaddon how he'd done that but he wasn't there. He had just disappeared.

She stared at the space he was standing in for a second. If she looked down at the ground she could see the imprints in the grass left by his boots. She wondered how he had just disappeared like that. But it was a stupid thing to wonder because she knew how he'd done that. Magic. And maybe, with the aid of all that magic, she could kill the King of Hearts and get Miriam back.

Alice headed towards the little house, ready for what was to come. As she reached it, she took one last glance at where Abaddon had been standing. At least she already had an ally, sort of. The downside of never having friends was one would easily trust anyone who offered them help or kindness, easier then most whom actually had been surrounded by a variety of people in their childhood.

This was the exact situation Alice had unknowingly walked into, unaware of the web of lies Abaddon had trapped her in.

**~Authors' Notes~**

**Late chapter is late, sorry guys! But we got there eventually, just a short chapter to explain the past of Wonderland a bit.**

**~Kate and Anne**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 07

It took a while for Miriam to finally collect herself. The despair had melted away and she remained sitting in silence. The cards that Abaddon had thrown into her cell had turned to dust a long time ago, but the flames on the candles still flickered. They were significantly smaller though, having melted a bit.

Slowly, Miriam got to her feet, the bells tied around her limbs jingling. She rubbed the back of her neck, which felt strained due the heavy skull on her head. Though the skull didn't feel so heavy anymore; it actually felt quite light, as if she had suddenly developed a stronger neck. Didn't mean her neck had stopped hurting, though.

Miriam stared glumly at the chains that hung from the wall behind her. Since Abaddon was no longer there to tease her, there was no harm in trying to climb them and escape through the window.

She approached the chains. Making sure she had a strong grip on them, complete with a strong footing, she hauled herself up, the bells tied to the skull's horns swinging around and hitting her face. It was an awful lot easier than she had anticipated, despite being bombarded with brass bells, and she scrambled up the chains like a spider, eventually reaching the window. Swiftly, she pulled herself up into a crouch on the window sill. There wasn't any glass in the way so she could shuffle forward onto the window ledge outside.

She didn't like the look of the outside world. She was sitting on the edge of a window which looked like it was a hundred miles from the ground - literally. All she could see was a wall of black stone stretching down below her into a sea of trees and mist. Miriam gulped. This suddenly didn't feel like a good idea.

Breathing deeply to keep herself in control, she shifted around with her back to the wind. She reached up and felt around until her fingers curled around a ledge above her. With another deep breath she pulled herself up, the muscles in her arms straining.

Now she was standing, her upper body pressed against the wall. The wind was whipping violently around her, trying to blow her off the side of the building. Coldness struck her toes, fingers and stomach, sending shivers deep into her skin. She dug her fingers into the indents in the stone, realising it wasn't a very bright idea to stand precariously on a very thin ledge extremely far above ground.

It looked weird though, in every direction, up, down, left and right, stretched a black wall. It looked like a very odd part of a castle. The wall was too high for her to see the top of it and she herself was too high to see the bottom of it.

Looking up she saw a window a couple of metres above her. There was nothing else she could do apart from climb up so, pulling a face of determination, she reached up and tried to dig her fingers between the stones. The stone were all jagged and sticking out, creating a perfect climbing wall for her.

As quickly as should could, whilst being careful at the same time, Miriam made her way up the wall to the higher window. Just like with the chain, she climbed up the wall surprisingly quickly, even though she had been terrified beyond relief, and was barefoot. As soon as she had reached the window, she scrambled onto the edge before setting herself into a crouch position once again.

She gazed out at the room behind this window. It was another dungeon cell, although there was a gap in the bars that Miriam knew instantly she'd be able to walk though. There were no chains for Miriam to climb down though, so she had to summon her courage and throw herself down to the floor. She landed on her feet, but wobbled and toppled over, crashing down to the floor. Surprisingly she hadn't sprained her ankles or hurt herself, even though she'd just jumped from a fairly large height onto a stone floor with bare feet. There wasn't any time to waste though, so Miriam got up and left the cell.

There wasn't any light in the corridor, just darkness, but that didn't stop Miriam seeing the shapes of other people in the cells surrounding her. She could tell the other people knew she was there, but they didn't react to her. A passing thought flitted through her head. She should save though it was the correct thing to do she decided against it. She wouldn't be able to save the people; she had to focus on getting out. Once she was free maybe she'd be able to formulate a plan to get everyone in the cells out too. The majority of them were probably innocent people like her.

Suddenly a scream echoed through the corridor. Miriam's head snapped to the side, facing the direction the scream had erupted from. All she could see was the vague shape of a struggling body being dragged away into the swallowing darkness. She didn't know what to do. She just stood there silently, staring.

As she stared, some colour appeared in the tenebrous light. Two pairs of glowing red eyes stared at her, the bodies they belonged to obscured by the surrounding shadows. The eyes stared intently at her and, even from as far away as she was, Miriam could see the murderous intent written in them.

Not hesitating any further, Miriam turned and sprinted down the corridor. Despite having a massive skull on her head and no shoes, she managed to zoom down the corridor at a speed she thought she was incapable of running at. She figured being scared out of her wits had given her an extra boost. Hurray for adrenaline.

At the end of the corridor was a winding staircase that led both up and down. Instinctively knowing down would leave to the other floor of dungeons, Miriam leapt up the stairs. There were several stops on the stairs but she didn't stop running, leaping up three steps at a time.

Finally she reached a door which she crashed through into another corridor. Even though there was some light in the new corridor, it was still pretty dark. Tattered tapestries decorated the walls while suits of armour stood in a line, albeit the majority of them lying in pieces on the floor.

Hearing sounds coming up the staircase, Miriam started to run again. Despite having run up several flights of stairs she was still stuffed with energy and wasn't even feeling close to tired.

She continued to make her way through the corridor. It looked like a bomb had gone off in it, or a rabid beast had been set free. Cracked, picture less frames scattered the floor, along with smashed vases and other ornaments. Moss grew along some parts of the walls but Miriam just ignored it. She needed to get out as soon as possible so there wasn't any time for her to sight see.

She took many twists and turns. It seemed more like she was in a labyrinth not a palace, there were so many turns. The corridor had slowly turned lighter and less destroyed as Miriam continued, before opening out into a wider area. Smashed bits of stone lay scattered around, while a stone staircase, half of it missing, sat to her left.

Miriam ran up the stairs and hopped over the gap in the middle. She landed awkwardly on the other side so she tumbled down with a string of yelps and screams rolling off her tongue as she fell through the gap she had tried jumping over.

After landing with a painful thud on top of several lumps of stone which had clearly once filled the gap in the stairs, she got up with a groan. She snuck out from underneath, rubbing the small of her back as she did so. Looking around she could see several doors, but it was too late, she could hear voices coming from behind her. Miriam instantly ducked back under the remains of the staircase, slipping between two of the lumps of stone she had landed on, carefully hiding in their shadows. It was rather a stupid hiding place, she just hoped that whoever was coming after her were rather stupid and didn't look under the stairs.

"Where'd she go?" a masculine voice asked.

"No idea," a feminine voice replied bitterly. The two voices sounded similar. Siblings, perhaps?

"Well, I don't see why we should care." The masculine voice continued speaking. Miriam peered out, carefully enough so the bells tied to her wouldn't jingle, and she could see a pair of black boots stop just a little away from where she was.

"Yeah, we might as well get back to the prisoners." The feminine voice sounded a little more annoyed than the masculine one.

"Yeah, he can deal with her instead."

He? Did they mean Abaddon?

The female voice let out a cracked laugh. "Yeah, he can."

They both laughed, and they slowly drifted away out of hearing range. Miriam counted to one hundred in her head and, sure they were now gone, slipped out from under the stairs. No one grabbed her, no one was there. With a sigh of relief she looked at the different ways she could go. Several dark, cracked doors and a broken archway. Miriam closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her gut told her to go through the right most door.

Through the right most door the corridor looked more normal than before. Miriam slowly made her way along the corridor; no one was following her anymore so she was free to walk at her own pace. She could properly take in her surroundings, which had finally started to resemble an ordinary castle.

With a sigh Miriam adjusted the skull on her head. Once she was sure her outfit was all right, along with her body which was strangely unharmed despite the disastrous tumble she'd taken, she aimlessly turned a corner and nearly came to a collision.

In front of her were several sleeping animals, looking as if they had been created from shadows, wisps of blackness flying from their bodies like smoke. Miriam stopped and stared at the sleeping animals. Instinct told her to run away, but there was also a tiny part of her that told her to stay and fight them. Making a quick decision, she decided to leave.

She started to creep backwards as silently as possible but she caught her heel on a small bit of rubble and automatically cursed under her breath in pain. Miriam's eyes widened as she stared at the beasts as one of them opened a single eye lazily. It caught sight of Miriam so opened both eyes fully and stared at her intently. After a couple of seconds long stare down, it started to bark. Soon enough it woke up all the other creatures and the air was just a cacophony of beastly howls.

With an irritated moan, Miriam spun around, yet again cursing under her breath for cursing under her breath in the first place, and ran back down the corridor, turning in the direction she hadn't gone in. She didn't look back over her shoulder because she had absolutely no desire to know how close the beasts were; hearing their insane howls was enough.

Up ahead though was something that was definitely karma biting back for all the wrong she'd done. Parts of the floor had given away so all Miriam could see was a cavernous darkness below. There was no chance to stop though so Miriam ran faster towards the gaps in the floor. Expertly, as if she had been practising free running her whole life, she leapt across each if the gaps in the floor, looking like she was dancing through the air. A bar stuck out above her head so she leapt up towards it, grasping it and using it to swing herself around so she could jump across a larger gap.

Once she had landed safely on the other side she then decided to glance over her shoulder at the creatures that had been chasing her. They ran towards the gaps in the floor and when they reached them they simply ran straight over as if there were no holes anywhere.

Miriam groaned. What was the point in running? She felt an urge to fight them, but what was she going to fight them with? Her hands? Fat chance. She didn't have magic like Abaddon so that was out of the question too.

They were closing in on her. With a reluctant moan she started to run again, hopping over more holes and gaps in the floor.

"If you want to fight then just fight." A voice drifted through the air.

Miriam stumbled slightly as she listened to the voice. What was that?

"Come on, you know you want to."

"Abaddon?" No, Abaddon's voice was different.

"No, darling. I'm not him."

Miriam took another leap. "Who are you?"

Suddenly a grinning mouth appeared in the wall. It was a deformed, almost cat like grin, complete with sharp canines. Miriam tripped as it took her by surprise.

"Don't be startled, come on."

Miriam stared at the mouth in the wall. It seemed to move along the wall at the same pace she ran at. "Just answer the question, who are you?"

"You might wanna jump." The mouth grinned even wider before sinking back into the wall.

Miriam looked in front of her, realising that a gigantic gap in the floor was ahead. Miriam was far too close to stop running, and she only managed to leap in time. She soared through the air, but she didn't have enough momentum to reach the other side, so she tumbled downwards instead. Her high-pitched wails echoed around her as she fell and fell. Soon she could see the floor zooming towards her so she screwed her eyes shut and prepared for the end.

Yet somehow, she found herself slowing down. Soon enough, she could feel she was in fact very still, but hadn't hit the ground. Cautiously, she opened her eyes. She was staring down at the floor, which was only a couple of centimetres below her.

Miriam scrambled up to her feet, a good amount of air still between her and the ground. What was going on?

The howling of the shadow creatures reached her ears and so Miriam looked up to see they had leapt over the edge and were falling towards her, beastly and murderous intent still in their eyes.

Miriam leapt back with a yelp before they landed on her, leaping up high and somersaulting backwards at the same time. Now she was hovering even higher in the air. As her mind puzzled over the sudden confusion the mouth appeared in the wall behind her.

"Go on, fight them." The mouth grinned, the voice slightly patronising.

"How?" Miriam asked, feeling frustrated.

"It's Wonderland, darling. Create a weapon." It laughed then disappeared again.

Miriam grunted and looked down at the shadow creatures. Create a weapon? She didn't understand how she was supposed to do that with no magic.

A weapon.

Miriam closed her eyes and thought hard,

What weapon?

There wasn't much time. If she was going to do it she had to do it there and then.

A scythe.

She could feel a tingling in her fingertips.

Yes, that sounded cool.

Suddenly one of the beasts leapt up at her. Miriam yelled and swung something around in her hands. The head of the monster was cut clean from its neck. It burst into black smoke and seemed to melt away into the air. Rather delighted in herself, Miriam stared down at the object in her hands; a scythe. It had a long, curved, wooden handle, that had intricate designs of skulls carved into it. The blade was long and curved too, covered in just as intricate golden patterns. Cogs decorated the sides of the blade where it met the handle. It was definitely a well made weapon, worthy of being a weapon from a fantasy video game.

The amazing thing though was Miriam had actually managed to create something. Why she had picked a scythe, she had no idea, but it had come in handy in killing the creature.

Suddenly the instinct to fight overcame Miriam and she zoomed down towards the creatures, swinging her scythe viciously. The creatures leapt at her and tried to tear her apart but Miriam fought back, her actions totally driven on instinct.

Soon, all of the creatures had disappeared into the air and Miriam could feel the scythe disappear too. Still hovering, she sighed in relief, although as she did so she suddenly lost her new found ability to fly and she fell down to the ground with a painful thump. She moaned, rubbing her head as she thought over what had happened. Had she really just killed all those creatures? She never knew she was capable of such a thing.

"That was impressive." A voice slunk over to her ears.

Miriam scrambled to her feet, alarmed, it was then that it just occurred to her how dark it really was. She was standing at the bottom of a dark, cavernous pit.

"Hey, stop teasing me already. Show yourself!" Miriam commanded. All the energy and strength she had felt a second ago had dissolved into nothing.

"Teasing you? You say that like I've been doing it for a while."

"Well of course you have! Stupid mouth in the wall!"

"Mouth in the wall?" The voice sounded confused. It then went on to mutter. "You must be talking about that stupid cat. Ergh."

"Cat?" Now Miriam was confused.

"Yeah, the pesky cat that runs around Wonderland." The owner of the voice stepped out of the shadows. "But that's not important. You've got me to deal with."

The man who owned the voice looked slightly older than Abaddon, with black hair slightly covering his red eyes, and a crooked smile stretched across the lower half of his face. Miriam realised he looked just like the person on the Jack of Hearts card. She could now see that the heart around his eye was a weird heart shaped scar, and there were little heart shaped scars underneath it on his cheek. His other cheek had clearly been slit open at one point, so he had half a Chelsea smile. Miriam could see the large cross stitches that had sewn it together, making his smile look even weirder and creepier; did everyone in Wonderland have a creepy smile? Either way, the scars still looked awfully painful, and had clearly not healed very well.

The man wore what looked like the tattered remains of a red shirt, and through the scraps of material that hung from him Miriam could see more heart shaped scars etched into his chest. His attire coupled with the unnaturally large, bloody meat cleaver that hung from his disintegrating belt gave him the appearance of a horror movie villain, more of a villain than Abaddon looked. He resembled a demented vampire, just without the fangs.

"Are you the...Jack of Heart's?" Miriam eventually asked.

"The term 'Jack of Hearts' is really detestable. I'd rather die than be called that." The man scowled. For some reason long words such as 'detestable' sounded strange coming from his, as if he was only trying to mimic someone with a wide vocabulary.

Miriam remembered that Abaddon had mentioned that the Jack of Hearts despised being called 'Jack'. "Oh right, it's the Knave of Hearts, isn't it?"

The man grinned. "What makes you think that?"

"Abaddon told me who you were." Well, he hadn't really told her, he had just shown her the card, but it had been heavily implied.

The man took the cleaver and swung it around in his hands. "Yeah, that's me, right hand man of the King himself." He threw the cleaver to his left hand so he could wave his right one. "The name's Rapscallion, but everyone calls me Rapscall, so you will too. You will also be wise to refer to me as the Knave of Hearts, not the Jack."

The way he said 'you will too' felt slightly chilling, as if he would kill her or do something else if she didn't refer to him by the shorthand version of his name.

Rapscall threw the cleaver back to his right hand, staring at Miriam. "Wonderland seems to love you, blessing a mere human like yourself with all those powers."

"Who said I'm only a mere human?" Miriam retorted. "What if I always had these powers?"

"Abaddon said you were as powerless as a rock." Rapscall snorted. "For some odd reason, Wonderland has decided to go against that."

"Maybe it likes me," Miriam suggested.

"Looks like it loves you really." Rapscall smiled slyly. "That's why it's a shame that I'm going to have to kill you now, because you've escaped. I would have loved to have learned why Wonderland, what should I say, blessed you with such divine magic." He grinned wickedly. "Then I'll find that cat and lock him up. Seriously, he gets on my nerves."

"You can't kill me!" Miriam wailed. "I've done nothing to you!"

Rapscall chuckled. "A prisoner has escaped. I must kill the prisoner."

Staring in horror at the man in front of her, Miriam backed away. "But why? I haven't done anything apart from escape. Surely the humane thing would be to let me go!"

Rapscall burst into laughter. "Humane? Yes. Entertaining? No. You better run before I get you."

"No," Miriam retorted. "I will not run!"

She tried to summon the scythe again, but nothing would happen. In frustration, she waved her hands around.

"Can't summon your scythe?" Rapscall asked with a sly grin. "Such a shame, you were very impressive a while ago."

Miriam stared at Rapscall for a micro second before closing her eyes and thinking hard. She pictured the scythe in her mind, its long curved blade and handle, intricate designs, deadly swing.

She opened her eyes as she could feel the scythe form in her hands. She grinned at Rapscall. "Don't think I'm going down without a fight!"

Rapscall grinned back and swung his cleaver around as he started to walk towards her. "We'll see if you're as skilled as you pretend to be."

**~Authors' Notes~**

**What is this? A chapter with out Alice? A chapter that was actually posted on time? The horror! Anyway, we get to meet Rapscall, one of our favourite characters. It's hard to believe he was once originally not in this story!**

**~Kate and Anne**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 08

Abaddon laughed. "There's a reason you're my Knave of Hearts. She really thought she could beat you?"

"Seems so."

"Humans, so idiotic, aren't they?"

"Well, she defeated your shadow creatures so you've gotta give her some credit, I guess."

"Ha. They're easy to kill."

Miriam looked up and glared at the two men as they chatted away. She hadn't managed to win against Rapscall, there wasn't even a point in time when she'd had an advantage. He'd completely wiped the floor with her, with what was presumably years of fighting experience. Now she was back in the jail cell, this time chained to the wall by her wrists. At least they had the decency to let her sit on the floor, with her arms not held above her head.

"Miriam, Miriam, Miriam, what are we going to do with you?" Abaddon sneered from where he stood before her.

"Kill her?" Rapscall suggested.

"Shut up, Rapscallion," Abaddon said, narrowing his eyes at the man next to him.

Rapscall scowled and said nothing.

Abaddon looked back at Miriam, even though he was still talking to Rapscall. "We can't kill her. She's going to be bait for Alice."

"I'm not being bait for anyone!" Miriam retorted.

Abaddon ignored her and looked at Rapscall. "That stupid rabbit and her assistant are going to get Alice for me."

"Hmm." Rapscall nodded even though there wasn't a reason to nod. "Good thinking."

"Well, anyway, when you've learnt you're lesson about escaping." Abaddon looked back at Miriam. "I've got a job for you."

Miriam hung her head and sighed. After she looked back up she realised both Abaddon and Rapscall were no longer in the room. She was back to being alone.

#

"Having fun daydreaming?"

Miriam's head snapped over to the direction Rapscall's voice had come from, being forcefully pulled out of her recollection of her first attempt at escaping.

That had been a long time ago now. She'd lost track of how long she'd been in Wonderland. Her hair had grown some significant length; it was almost as long as Alice's.

"I was, yes," Miriam said slowly, staring at Rapscall from underneath her ram skull hat.

"Don't give me that look; I was just trying to be nice." He waved a hand dismissively at her. "Honestly. Are all humans like you?"

Miriam managed a brief smile. After getting to know Rapscall, she found out he wasn't all that bad. He was actually quite nice, even if he did work for Abaddon, and was a well known psychopath (more so than the king himself). Miriam didn't actually know what Rapscall did apart from wonder the castle and tease her. And kill people, although she tried to pretend he didn't.

"We all despise being kidnapped, that's for sure," Miriam said and she sighed, turning away from Rapscall to look at the children she was looking after. "Now leave me alone."

Rapscall smirked, although she didn't see, and scratched the stitches in his cheek. "Become attached to your nanny duties, haven't you?"

He wasn't wrong there, actually.

Miriam had attempted to escape many many times, all her attempts proving to be futile. Every time she had been caught by Rapscall and dragged back to her cell, his scarred face looking more intimidating every time. She was surprised he never actually ran her through with his cleaver, but apparently it was only because Abaddon wanted her alive, the only thing Miriam was glad to actually have Abaddon for.

This hadn't stopped Rapscall leaving a nasty gash in her upper when she had idiotically called him 'Rapscallion, the Jack of Hearts'. Due to Wonderland's magic her clothes were easily fixed but the gash took some time to heal. She learnt when referring to him by his full name to do it when he wasn't in slashing distance of her, but he could teleport so that wasn't exactly helpful anyway.

It hadn't taken Miriam long to stop trying to escape. It was pretty much impossible, even with her new flashy powers. Whatever job Abaddon had for her would be better than a degrading dungeon, unless he made her an assassin of something bizarre. She didn't think she'd have the stomach for killing.

But she wasn't made into an assassin, not even close. She was a nanny. Yes, the job given to her by the tyrant of Wonderland was to be a nanny. It was lucky Miriam had always planned to work with kids in some way or another.

It had confused Miriam why a lot of children were living in the castle, but she had quickly learnt they were the survivors from the families that Abaddon had killed. He had a tendency to slaughter entire towns if they dared defy them, with Rapscall almost always tagging along. Abaddon claimed he didn't kill women or children (or more precisely, 'weak' woman), apparently having some sort of a heart. The women he kept alive were forced into slavery ('maids' he called it, but she was pretty sure it was just plain slavery), and the kids were given a separate place to live at the castle.

Rapscall mentioned something about Abaddon never killed children, hence why there were an awful lot of them at the castle. Miriam guessed it was something to do with him starting his reign as a child, but of course she never got any confirmation. It wasn't like Abaddon ever talked to her.

Since Abaddon was apparently too busy all the time to look after the kids, so hence having a nanny to look after them. Apparently the last one had been in an 'accident' that took her life, which was why Miriam was now taking on the responsibilities.

Rapscall mentioned he had temporarily looked after the kids before Miriam had arrived. How they hadn't been mentally scarred of his horrific face, she had know idea. They actually seemed to be rather attached to the scarred man, and he seemed to be fairly fond of them too because he always dropped by to check on them, under the guise keeping an eye Miriam to make sure she wasn't planning any elaborate escape plans. She knew the truth though, and she knew that he knew she knew the truth, so he would grin at her sardonically when she questioned it.

"Don't pester me," Miriam said, fiddling with one of the bells tied to her wrist. "I'm concentrating on said nanny duties."

She glanced at the kids, whom had stopped playing and were watching the two talk. Abaddon liked to call them his playing cards. Miriam didn't even need to ask his inspiration for that.

"Didn't look like it. You were too busy reminiscing." Rapscall waggled his fingers at her, pronouncing the last word with a false formal tone. "Anyway, you need to stop focusing on your nanny duties."

Miriam frowned. "Why?"

Rapscall swung his cleaver around carelessly in his hand. It greatly confused Miriam how he had never managed to slice his head in two. "Abaddon wants to speak to you."

Miriam felt rather surprised. Abaddon wanted to speak to her? He never did. Miriam didn't want to speak to him at all either. In fact, for the whole time she had spent at the castle they had always tried their best to avoid each other, any spiteful messages they wanted to send to the other passed through Rapscall.

Abaddon wasn't the only one Miriam didn't speak to. She hadn't seen the two people whom had chased her for a bit on her first escape attempt again, although she had heard Rapscall mutter about 'the twins' sometimes.

"Why does Abaddon want to speak to me?"

He shrugged. "No idea, but I guess you should go to see him."

"Where would I find him?"

"Throne room."

Of course.

"Well, if I come back and find out you've harmed a single hair on one of these kids I'll..."

"You'll what?"

Miriam sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not good with threats."

"You need a cleaver to be good at threats," Rapscall said, pointing his own bloody one at her. He then laughed, stepping aside to let her through the doorway. "Be quick, I have a cat problem to deal with."

Miriam knew what Rapscall meant by 'cat problem'. He was there again, causing problems like always.

She said nothing to the Knave as she walked past and made her way through the empty hallway. The part of the castle she was currently in was dedicated to the children. There were several rooms they could freely wonder around in. But, to make sure they couldn't escape, a locked door stood as the only exit to their part of the castle, a door that would magically open, only at Miriam's touch (she had long ago deduced Rapscall had teleporting powers similar to that of Abaddon. That was how he managed to appear in the children's rooms).

She'd learnt long ago not to question the magic of Wonderland, and she'd given up on discovering the mysterious origins of her own. Rapscall seemed interested though, he was eager to discover the secret behind Wonderland's love for her. But Miriam had given up on caring, so he simply wasn't going to find out.

Since the part of the castle she was walking through was for the children (her room also being there) it was lighter, and less shabby. Although, as soon as the door swung open and let her through to the rest of the castle, she was walking through a maze of black corridors and decaying tapestries. At least the part she resided in wasn't as ruined as the part where the dungeons were, neither were there shadow beasts to chase her.

Picking her way through the corridors she was nearly at the throne room. Up ahead was a white haired maid, carrying an empty tray. She was a fair bit older than Miriam, possibly thirty. Her white hair was scruffy and her eyes looked hollow. Miriam recognised her, having seen her a few times around the castle before.

Miriam pulled the maid aside. "Is he in a grumpy mood?"

The maid didn't need any explanation as to who 'he' was. "No, I don't fink so."

"You're Cockney?" Miriam asked aloud, instantly recognising the maid's accent, although it sounded odd mixed with her dry, older voice.

"I'm what?" the maid asked.

After seeing the maid's confused look Miriam smiled apologetically, not having meant to speak out loud. "Just ignore me."

She then thanked the maid for answering her questions. The maid started to leave but then Miriam called out after her. "What's your name? I've seen you around, but I don't know what to call you."

"Donna," the maid said.

"Hello Donna, I'm Miriam."

"I know who you are," Donna said before she turned and hurried away.

Miriam watched Donna leave then eventually decided to head to the throne room, the huge arched doors swinging open when she reached them. She stepped inside and stared down at the end of the room. It was a very large room with nothing but a single throne, in which she could make out the figure clad in red sat atop it.

Miriam walked over to Abaddon, taking her time to cross the room. "You wanted me?"

"You wanted me, your majesty," Abaddon corrected with a lopsided and sly smile, a glass of what looked like red wine in his hand.

Miriam sighed. "You wanted me, your majesty?"

"That's better," Abaddon said, slowly clapping his hands. "Now, there's something I thought you'd like to know."

Miriam remained silent. She was still terrified of Abaddon, still not knowing what he was truly capable of. It was best for her to remain silent to avoid frightened stutters.

"Well, in case you actually want to know, I'll tell you anyway." Abaddon grinned slyly, taking a sip of his drink. "Alice has finally arrived."

"Alice?" Miriam asked her eyes wide.

"Yes, it seems like she's finally come to save you with the help of a mysterious man in red whom claims to care for her."

"Don't you dare do anything to hurt her!" Miriam yelled.

"Why would I do that to someone I deeply care about?" Abaddon asked sarcastically, twirling his drink upside down, although nothing spilt. The liquid was being kept in the glass by an invisible force.

"She won't believe you!" Miriam replied.

Abaddon's smile didn't falter. "That's where you are wrong, dear Miriam. Naïve young Alice already believed me."

**~Author's Notes~**

**A chapter without Alice? A chapter posted on time? Getting a real sense of déjà vu here, people. Since Chapters 6, 7 and 8 were originally all one chapter, before being cut shorter so they were easier to read online, the chapters were never specifically designed to be Alice-less chapter. We hope you enjoyed it anyway, the descriptive paragraphs were completely rewritten because they sounded really awkward (probably still do)**

**~Kate and Anne**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 09

Alice approached the house with caution. It was wooden and looked like something out of an old western cowboy film, especially since it was a little run down. There were small bits of ivy growing up the side, but overall it looked like a nice place to live. If you fancied having no electricity that was.

Carefully, Alice knocked on the wooden door and waited for a reply. There wasn't one. Frowning, she went to knock on the door again when someone started yelling.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!"

The door opened and an old woman was standing there. She had kind features and a warm smile topped with a nice shade of grey for her hair, not the horrible shade some people got. She wore a white apron with faint floral patterns but the whole thing had turned slightly grey.

"Uh, hello, my name's-" Alice started to say.

"Alice? Come inside, come inside. We've been waiting for you," the old woman said in a relieved voice, beckoning Alice inside.

Alice frowned slightly and was about to ask how the woman knew her name but that seemed pretty pointless. She knew what the old woman's reply would be: "We all know your name here" or something along those lines. It also seemed pretty pointless asking how the old woman knew that Alice was coming. Considering she knew Alice's name, she must have known Alice was coming, it made perfect sense. After all, Abaddon had said she was meant to come.

Alice walked inside, the wooden floorboards creaking a tiny bit as she stood on them. The old woman closed the door behind her, with the hinges creaking louder than the floorboards. Alice looked idly around the house. It wasn't much, pretty small actually.

Downstairs consisted of just the one room, a fairly large room mind, but still only one. It was lit up by one light that hung in the middle of the ceiling. Presumably it would have been quite dark (and cold) in the winter, and when the day neared its end, but there and then lots of light shone through the windows, filling the room with a warm glow.

There was a large, unlit fireplace in one corner surrounded by a rug, faded with age, and what looked like a comfy, albeit moth bitten, armchair, also faded with age. There was a small wooden table one side of the room, at which Alice presumed the people living in the house would have eaten at, and on the other side there were a variety of different sized storage cupboards. At the very back of the room there was a very unstable looking staircase with some poles missing from its banisters.

From the top of the stairs Alice heard a young, excited voice call out. "Is that 'er?"

"Yes, it's Alice," the old woman replied.

A little girl came running down the stairs. She had short white hair that bounced with every step she took, a blue streak in her fringe. It was interesting to see someone with unnaturally coloured (white may have been natural for some, but it wasn't for young girls), but since it was Wonderland maybe she had just been born with it. Green and black goggles rested on the top of her head. She wore a total of two body suits: a loose, black turtle neck one, with no sleeves and cut off at the knees, and underneath a tighter one, which completely covered her skin, decorated in white and black horizontal stripes. To top it all off she had large brown boots that looked too big for her feet, some pretty funky steam punk styled gloves and belt, and an awfully large golden bow on the back of her head (which seemed to be suspended in mid-air as it didn't look like it was clipped on to anything). Her whole outfit looked way too modern for a resident of a pretty medieval looking house.

"Hey, I'm Lilian, it's nice to meet ya, Alice," the little girl said, running up to Alice and sticking out her hand.

"Well there's no need to introduce myself," Alice said as she smiled and shook Lilian's hand, recognising the accent but not being able to place it. She was also wondering how old the girl was. She looked pretty young. Alice didn't want to seem rude by asking how old she was.

"If you're wondering 'ow old I am, I'm ten." Lilian grinned as she looked up at Alice, as if she had read the older girl's mind. She probably had, this was Wonderland after all.

Ten? Alice thought she was going to be a bit older. Twelve or thirteen at least.

"Well I'm sixteen, just a bit older than you." Alice laughed.

Her laugh was partially real but partially fake at the same time; she was still getting over the fact she was in an unreal world at the moment. Earth seemed so much…easier to cope with. She grew up on Earth after all. She may have naturally come from Wonderland but to her, she came from England, Europe, Earth.

Lilian laughed soft girlish laugh. "Age ain't important. Me grandmother will tell you that."

The old woman nodded with a vaguely amused smile on her lips. "Age is hardly important."

Alice found the difference in the two's accents amusing, with the old woman being the far more articulate one.

Suddenly Lilian took Alice's hand in her own small one and pulled her towards the fireplace. "Come on, you must be tired. You can rest 'ere."

Alice didn't mention how she just had been resting and only woke up about an hour beforehand, because it felt like she'd be rejecting their hospitality otherwise.

Lilian's grandmother came over and sat in the chair whilst Lilian collapsed on the floor, pulling Alice down with her.

"Lilian, why don't you get some water?" Her grandmother asked.

"But I just sat down." Lilian groaned and stood up, straightening her goggles. She then gave her grandmother a fake salute. "I'm on it, ma'am!"

She grabbed the bucket that sat next to the fireplace (which Alice hadn't noticed before) and marched outside, keeping her head held high.

"My name's Esther," the old woman said, finally introducing herself once her granddaughter had returned.

"Hello, Esther," Alice replied looking briefly up at the old woman before averting her gaze to the fireplace, which still didn't have any fire in.

"Ah, the fire. We might want to turn that on," Esther mused and she slowly stood up.

She knelt by the fire and arranged the logs that were in it before rubbing her hands together. After a minute she clasped them together and she blew through them. A small spark appeared, which cause the log sin the fire place to catch fire.

"Is that better?" She asked as she sat back down in the chair.

Alice nodded and pulled her knees up to her chest. "Can everyone do magic?"

"Not everyone, but a lot of people," Esther explained. "I can only do simple bits and pieces, and I'm always wondering whether Lilian will show some prowess. If she's anything like her father she'll be as magicless as a piece of wood. Mind you, even the wood in Wonderland can be magically, and a lot more so than my own son. But anyway, Lilian always took more after her mother, even if her adventurous spirit come from the former."

Alice nodded to show she had been listening, and stared at the dancing flames that grew and grew until they took over the whole fireplace, licking gently at the air. The flames danced as Alice watched them as if they didn't really have a single care in the world.

"I'm back!" Lilian called as she came charging back in the house with a fall bucket of water; water spilling over the side and dampening the floor. Alice wondered where the water had come from, considering there hadn't been a river or lake in sight.

"Lilian, please be careful with the water." Esther sighed as Lilian ran over.

"Sorry, grandmother," Lilian said and she bowed her head before putting the bucket down and sitting herself down next to Alice again. She leant back on her hands giving Alice a grin.

"Lilian, the pot?" Esther asked.

"Oh yeah, the pot." Lilian groaned again, slapping her hands to her face. She scrambled up once more, running over to the cupboards, and then pulled out a small cauldron. She sighed dramatically then swaggered back over, swinging the cauldron. It was an interesting way of walking for a ten year old, like she was trying to be immature but overly mature at the same time.

"Thank you, Lilian." Esther smiled, taking the cauldron from the small girl's hand and hanging it on a hook over the magic-made fire.

She took the bucket of water and poured it into the cauldron as Lilian sat down next to Alice for the third time. Lilian leant back against her hands again, one foot resting on the opposite knee, watching her grandmother. She then looked sideways at Alice. Alice looked back at her and they both held each other's gazes for a second until Lilian decided to shift her position so it matched Alice's. They both looked at each other again then turned their gazes to the fire, where Esther was stirring the water.

"When I sit in front of the fire, I like to close me eyes and feel the 'eat of the flames on me face," Lilian said, closing her eyes and smiling. "Then I can imagine it's the middle o' summer on a nice warm day and I can pretend I 'ave no care in the world. Wonderland is safe again under the rule of the White Queen and peace is everywhere. No evil King of 'earts."

Alice looked at Lilian for a second then slowly closed her eyes. She could feel the warmth on her face and it felt quite pleasant. Letting her mind wander, Alice could imagine it was a mid-summer's day. She could envision herself dancing around a field full of flowers…roses to be exact, but roses without thorns so she could dance around through the grass bare legged without getting scratched. With her would be Miriam, smiling and laughing and having fun. She could imagine Lilian being there too, picking the roses and having a good time, messing around as little kids liked to do, although Alice had a feeling picking roses wasn't a very Lilian-esque thing. Maybe Abaddon could also be there, since Alice had a lack of other friends to add. He wouldn't be wearing his coat, because it would be too stuffy to wear during summer.

Slowly, everything that Alice was imagining stopped following what her thoughts wanted them to do. They suddenly gained a mind of their own and started playing out in front of her eyes as if this was something that was actually happening. For some odd reason Lilian was dancing and spinning around with a man with cat ears and a tail. Alice caught a glimpse of his face and saw his large grin. He wouldn't stop grinning that creepy, sly grin.

Miriam was still there but she looked different. Taller, curvier, stoic-looking, dressed in a distorted jester's outfit with a ram's skull covering her eyes. A long, curved intricate scythe was in her hands as she stared at Alice. Surrounding Miriam were cards with children's faces, all continuously chanting Alice's name. Miriam opened her mouth as if to speak but didn't say anything, her mouth just moved while nothing came out of it.

Alice stared in horror at the playing cards, only to have her sight caught by a man in a red tattered shirt behind Miriam. Black hair hung over his face and he swung a cleaver around in his hand. Alice tried to call out, to warn Miriam about the man behind her, but no sound came out of her mouth either. Miriam's lips kept moving until the man snuck up behind her and covered them with one hand. He grinned wickedly, holding his cleaver to Miriam's throat, but the grin wasn't aimed at her. Alice turned around and saw Abaddon standing behind her, but instead of smiling or looking worried he just had a bland expression on his face.

"Abaddon?" Alice called out, completely unsure on what to do.

Before she had time to do anything, run to Abaddon or save Miriam, the roses in the field grew taller, wrapping themselves around her. Alice yelped and wriggled, trying desperately to break free, but the roses wrapped themselves around her mouth so she couldn't make a sound.

Alice looked frantically to the left and the right and she could Lilian and the smiling man hadn't yet been engulfed by roses. She saw Miriam break free from the black-haired man's grasp and she swung her scythe maniacally at the growing roses, slicing them cleanly. The black-haired man laughed and lunged at her, grabbing her and pulling her into the forest of roses.

"Alice! Alice!" Miriam yelled sound suddenly erupting from her mouth as she twisted around to look at her friend. "Alice you have to come quickly! Alice he's-"

Before Miriam could finish her sentence the roses squeezed tightly and Miriam and the black-haired man exploded into rose petals.

Alice managed a muffled scream but couldn't make any real sound. She frantically tried to pull the roses away from her but they kept squeezing tighter and tighter, whilst the children faced playing cards kept chanting louder and louder.

Next Alice turned to look at Lilian, roses wrapped around her frail young limbs.

"Alice!" Struggling against the thorny nightmare. Her yells contorted and twisted into screams of fright and eventually she too burst into rose petals.

The smiling cat eared man wasn't making a sound; instead he continued smiling creepily at her. Simply he just slipped from the roses landing softly on the floor without a single sound.

_Someone always needs to survive._ Alice heard what she presumed what was his voice echo in her head. _When you get lost in the forest and need to find your way, give me a call._

_How do I call you? _Alice thought back, not sure it was going to work but luckily it did.

_Call me by my name of course. _The man smiled widely at her.

_What's your name_? Alice thought, panicking slightly as she could feel thorns growing, digging nastily into her skin.

Well you should be able to guess that. The man smiled before he simply just disappeared, leaving his creepy smile imprinted on Alice's mind.

The Cheshire Cat. He had to be.

Alice turned back to Abaddon. Abaddon?

Abaddon stared at her for a moment then slowly approached her. The roses never touched him. When he finally reached her Alice could see his face properly. He didn't actually have a bland expression on his face; it was actually sad. A deep sadness was in his eyes and it seemed as if he didn't want to be here.

"Go home, Alice," he said in a clear voice. "Go home, it's too dangerous for you here."

Abaddon's gaze suddenly turned cold and he stared up at her. Alice looked down at him, wide eyed because the rose started to crush her. Without saying another word Abaddon slowly turned into rose petals too and Alice watched as they floated away on the wind.

Now she was all alone.

With roses crushing her slowly to death.

Soon they squeezed her so tightly that she couldn't breathe and she could feel that she too was about to turn into rose petals.

**~Authors' Notes~**

**Welcome to Wonderland, a world where dreams are more like LSD fuelled nightmares that don't make any sense, because why would dreams in a place where oxygen is substituted for magic make sense? Anyway, we're back to Alice! And an introduction of the fifth main character, we'll get to the sixth and final one soon. And this week we'll have a double update to make up for the fact we missed last week! **

**~Kate and Anne**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Alice suddenly woke up. She looked around, breathing slowly. No field of monster roses. Good, she was safe. For now anyway.

"Hey, you're finally awake," Lilian said leaning in close to Alice so their noses were almost touching. "You fell asleep. I did too I do that a lot of times by the fire."

Alice blinked the sleepiness away from her eyes and shook her head slightly. She rolled her shoulders back and shook her arms, and since they felt pretty stiff she stretched them out too. Her backside also hurt quite a bit, presumably due to sitting on the wooden floor, even if there was a rug on top of it.

"Grandmother!" Lilian yelled. "Alice is awake!"

Alice winced as the ten-year-old yelled in her ear. Esther came down the stairs, no longer dressed in her apron. "Ah, Alice. Had a nice nap?"

Alice hesitated before answering but then nodded. She didn't feel like mentioning the weird dream.

Esther made her way over to the cupboards where she pulled out three cups and a ladle then she walked over to the fire. She dipped the ladle into the cauldron and took a sip of whatever liquid was inside. "Hmmm, still hot."

Alice looked back at the fire as Esther poured whatever the liquid was into the cups. The flames had died down a bit by then, looking a lot smaller than they originally had been.

Esther handed a cup each to Lilian, whom had gone back to sitting down and leaning back against her hands, and Alice, before keeping one for herself. Alice looked into the cup at whatever was inside. Well, it wasn't the original water that was for sure. It was a weird brown colour. Alice had never been really found of brown drinks: Coffee, tea and even hot chocolate (she preferred white hot chocolate). Alice didn't want to be rude though so she sniffed the drink (it smelled okay) then took a small sip. It was actually quite nice, just above lukewarm in temperature, which was the perfect temperature for a hot drink. Any hotter and she'd burn her tongue.

"A Wonderland delicacy," Esther explained. "Made from the simplest of ingredients, and a little magic. It's called apple berry tea, I assume you don't have that where you come from."

Apple berry tea? Was that a mix of apples and berries or some strange concoction of a bizarre Wonderland fruit?

Alice shook her head. "Not at all."

"What do you 'ave, then?" Lilian asked.

Slowly slipping her apple berry tea, Alice answered they had different types of tea, just not apple berry. Lilian and Esther kept asking her questions, with Lilian being particularly interested in Earth. Lilian seemed ecstatic that Alice came from another land, because apparently the inhabitants of Wonderland only knew of their own. Since they knew she didn't come from Wonderland, it meant she could cut down a part of her explanation.

Alice told Lilian about how Earth had no magic. Then she went into an awfully long speech about how different it was. She found it very boring to be honest, but Lilian was pretty intrigued. She especially liked the sound of DVDs, CDs and computers. She kept going on about how a television with little people living inside it would be cool. Clearly Lilian wasn't going to grasp the actual concept anytime soon, but it didn't particularly matter. Although the thought of people five inches high living in a box did amuse Alice a little.

"So, why are you here, Alice?" Esther asked.

They knew her name, when she was going to arrive, about her coming from another land, but not why Alice was there? It wasn't something she could actually complain about, but she asked anyway. Esther assured her they only knew she was to come to Wonderland from a strange land for Esther had been told by the Chalice's assistant.

"Chalice's assistant?" Alice asked.

"Yes, didn't Chalice tell you one of her assistants were to fill you in on the details of Wonderland and your past?" Esther questioned.

Alice suddenly remembered Abaddon had been the one that had told her, having said something about Chalice having sent him.

Since they'd answered her question, Alice had to return the favour. She explained about how Miriam was kidnapped and what had happened afterwards. Meeting Chalice, the beach, the forest and meeting Abaddon, Chalice's assistant. She left out the dream though. She didn't need people who were willing to help her thinking she was crazy.

"So, you're 'ere to rescue your friend, right? What's she called? What's she like?" Lilian asked, not seeming too certain on what question to ask first.

"She's called Miriam. She was the first friend I ever had. No one really likes her, just because she's weird. But that's why we're friends; no one likes us and we're both weird."

"Wow, she sounds pretty cool. I wish I could meet 'er," Lilian mused.

"Maybe Alice can bring her back here once she's rescued her." Esther smiled.

"Yeah," Alice nodded in agreement. "I think you'll like each other."

Lilian smiled too, before asking, "So, you've never had any other friends?"

Alice was about to nod, when she recalled what Abaddon had told her. "As far as I remember, she is, but there was someone before her."

She then launched into the story of how there'd apparently been a boy she once knew but had been forced to forget. Luckily neither questioned this, because explaining the concept of modern science would be difficult.

"If your people can't perform magic then this friend of yours must have come from Wonderland." Esther didn't look up as she spoke because she was too busy focused on the thing she had just started knitting.

Alice nodded. "He did. He's the King of Hearts."

A silence fell across the room.

"Okay, I did not see tha' comin'," Lilian admitted. Esther just nodded, apparently not phased by the reveal.

A sudden thought occurred to Alice. Was the black haired guy from her dream the King of Hearts? He had held a cleaver to Miriam's throat after all. A vision of Miriam with her throat sliced floated through Alice's mind and she shuddered at the thought of it. No, Miriam wasn't dead. Miriam was still alive, Alice could feel it.

"So you need to find this 'rabbit 'ole' to get down the cliff?" Lilian asked. Alice appreciated the swift change of subject.

She nodded as Esther spoke. "Lilian why don't you show her?"

Lilian grinned and took Alice by the hand and pulled her to her feet, dragging her over to the back of the room. There, she bent down and lifted up the rug, revealing a small trap door. Opening the trap door, Alice could see nothing but spiral stairs leading down into the darkness.

"This is the only way down the cliff, besides fallin' of course," Lilian said.

"I have to go all the way down there?" Alice asked, not really liking the idea much.

"Don't worry, you won't be on your own," Esther said, walking over with two rucksacks and a lantern in her hand. "Lilian will be going with you."

"What?" Alice asked. "Lilian can't come with me she's too young. This could be dangerous!"

"Equally as dangerous for someone who hasn't been to this world before. Equally as dangerous for someone whom the King of Hearts wants dead."

Esther had a valid point.

"I can show you around," Lilian joined in. "I've lived 'ere since I was born so it would probably be helpful. We don't want you getting lost now do we?"

"Oh all right then, you can come with me." Alice gave in.

"Not that I know my way around the whole of Wonderland, of course, but better than nothing, eh?"

Alice wasn't utterly convinced.

Esther came over and placed a hand on each of the girls' shoulders. "You have all the time in the world. Just stay the night here and rest before you head out," she said as she bent down and closed the trapdoor, pulling the rug over it.

"No, we don't," Alice protested. "I have to save my friend!" She couldn't stay the night, not if it was still morning. Actually, she had no idea what the time was. It might have been a lot later than she thought. The idea of possibly having slept for nearly twenty four hours wasn't so appealing.

"Just stay the one night," Esther soothed. "You'll be useless saving your friend if you have no energy. Besides, staying here for the rest of the day can give you some bonding time with Lilian, you need to get to know, like and trust each other if you are going to travel together."

Alice contemplated the idea. It was fairly reasonable to be honest. "Oh all right."

Giving in was starting to become a habit.

Esther smiled. "Okay, now while you have nothing to do with the moment, why not help with the gardening?

#

After a long day, Alice and Lilian were tucked in bed. Well, they weren't exactly beds. It wasn't even plural. All that was there was a slightly dirty double mattress (that was probably stuffed with straw) with a few blankets. Alice was sleeping in her white under dress while Lilian slept in, what Alice could now confirm as, her black and white striped jumpsuit, since they didn't have any proper nightclothes to sleep in. There was a small lantern next to Alice emitting a small glow.

Esther had been making them do all sorts of odd chores and they had quickly grown pretty tired. They had been gardening for ages: cutting the grass that refused to be cut, killing the overly large insects that were eating the plants (there was one snail that was as big as Alice's head), picking vegetables to eat for dinner, and just plain old weeding, which was fairly hard when the weeds were as tall as you.

Alice had even discovered the small pond that had appeared from nowhere, which Lilian had gotten the bucket of water from. Alice had even discovered the bottom floor actually did have a second room, but the door to it was in a dark corner and was easy to miss.

Soon, after a long day, they were tucked in bed.

"Alice, are you really going to kill the King of 'earts?" Lilian whispered as she rolled over onto her side so she could look at Alice.

She rolled over to look at Lilian. "If I have to, then yes. I hope I could get away with not killing him though because killing isn't right. I'm not sure if I'll be able to bring myself to do it."

Lilian made a little noise in agreement. "But he's your friend."

"It's not like I can remember him."

"I suppose..." Lilian muttered, but she still didn't seem fond of the idea. Neither did Alice, but she needed to save Miriam.

Alice looked at Lilian, deciding a change of topic was being called for. "Lilian, why do you live with your grandmother?"

Lilian looked up at Alice then sighed, burying her face into the pile of cloth they were using as a mattress. "I used to live with me parents in a village close to the bottom of the cliff until me dad were killed."

"Oh I'm so sorry!" Alice exclaimed, regretting she had even asked now. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, how was he…killed?"

"There were these people in the village that 'ad created a plot to kill the king. Another one of the villagers told him about it so he came and burnt their house down. He killed the person who told him too because he doesn't like snitches apparently. The King of 'earts took their children away. He does that, kidnaps children and you never see them again."

Alice thought of the children faced playing card in her dream. She shivered.

"Me dad tried to rescue the two children the king was taking so the king simply killed him. Now I live with me grandmother," Lilian finished.

"But what about your mother?" Alice asked.

Lilian sighed. "She was kidnapped by the King when dad died. I don't know what happened to her. She's probably dead too."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"Why does your grandmother live all the way up here, though?" Alice asked after a brief moment of silence.

"She has to look after the rabbit 'ole as you like to call it. That's all she's ever told me."

The girls were silent for a while. All the sounds they could here were crickets in the distance. Alice wondered how big the crickets were. Maybe they could have been the size of a cat.

"So, Alice, what was that dream you had?" Lilian eventually asked.

"Dream? What dream?" Alice asked. She thought about the dream she had had earlier whilst by the fire.

"When you woke up after falling asleep, you know while imagining a warm summer's day, you looked slightly freaked out," Lilian whispered.

Alice paused. The she sighed and turned to look at Lilian. She told the young girl about everything that happened in the dream, from the roses to Miriam and the black haired man that must have been the King to the children faced playing cards to the what she thought must be the Cheshire Cat to Abaddon with his cold expression to everyone turning into rose petals.

"Wow, that sounded like a very interestin' dream," Lilian said after a while.

Interesting wasn't the correct word for it. Weird was more likely. Alice asked if this was normal.

Lilian nodded slowly. "Well, dreams in Wonderland are always weird, I guess. I've 'ad some weird ones meself. Grandmother says its cos of the magic in their air. They're not meant to make sense."

That would explain why it seemed more like a LSD fuelled nightmare than a dream. Wonderland was messing with her brain.

"Do, do you think that the black haired man with Miriam was the King?" Alice asked, rolling onto her back so she could stare at the ceiling.

"The King? Possibly."

"Possibly?"

"Well, yeah, I can't exactly say yes or no since I can't see inside your head." Lilian rolled onto her back too.

"Does the King have black hair?"

"I dunno. It's been a while since I last saw 'im. It's dark, I think, so possibly. Either black or brown."

Dark hair. Well, at least that meant if they met any fair haired people they wouldn't be the King of Hearts. Unless of course he had the ability to change his appearance. Hopefully he couldn't.

Alice racked her brains. Was there any other features she could tell Lilian about this mysterious black haired man? It was hard, his face had been covered by his hair...was there anything she could recall apart from the blood stained cleaver?

Suddenly it came to her. "He had scars on his face."

"Scars?"

"Yeah. Heart shaped ones."

Lilian thought for a second. "He might 'ave gotten them recently. But I don't think 'e'd scar 'is own face. From what I've seen of 'im 'e's very proud of his appearance."

"So, it wasn't the King then?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Lilain sighed and once again rolled over to face Alice. "Did your friend have black 'air?"

"I dunno. Like I said, I can't remember him."

Lilian made a murmuring noise and Alice rolled over to look at her. She looked very tired.

"Maybe it's a sign for the future. Like a prophetic dream."

"Prophetic?"

"I don't understand, it seemed almost prophetic," Alice admitted.

"Prophetic?"

"Uh, future seeing."

Lilian didn't looked pleased. "If that's the future I'm terrified. I don't wanna be turned into rose petals, or meet kid faced playin' cards."

Alice shook her head at the misunderstanding. "I mean interpretation, representation of. Metaphorical, not literal. You know, readin' between the lines. Can children faced playin' cards even exist?"

"Probably." Lilian yawned. "It's Wonderland."

"No, looking between the lines. They represent the playing cards." She was going to add 'in _Alice's_ _Adventures in Wonderland_' but she wouldn't know how to explain that story to a Wonderland inhabitant. "The Queen of Hearts, she's supposed to have playing cards for servants. If the King of Hearts kidnaps children, I suppose he could be-"

"Turnin' them into playin' cards! Oh that's just 'orrible!" Lilian exclaimed.

"No no, maybe not," Alice said now it being her turn to create the 'keep quiet' motions with her hands. "Maybe they just represent the playing cards. I mean, come on, how would you put a child's face on a massive playing card?"

"With magic," Lilian said simply.

Lilian had a point. Before Alice could counteract that point Esther came in and told them to be quiet since they needed their rest, and they couldn't get any if they stayed up all night talking. So, as Esther left, Alice leant over and put out the small light in the lantern next to her, plunging herself and Lilian into darkness and soon. She reached out to Lilian and pulled the younger girl against her. Lilian leant her head against Alice's shoulder as they curled up together for comfort and warmth, quickly falling to sleep.

**~Authors' Notes~**

**Kinda filler, really, but it explained a few important things!**

**~Kate and Anne**


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